LARKANA, May 6: The district police officer (DPO), Larkana, Sultan Ahmed Khwaja, appointed the ASP, city, as inquiry officer to initiate a probe into the alleged torture of two villagers, Kehar Khan Shar and Gahi Khan Shar.

The DPO told this correspondent on Tuesday that the Mahota police had arrested the two villagers as a preventive measure to avoid a clash between the Jatoi and Shar tribes, who were having a dispute over a piece of land. However, police had beaten them severely after arresting them.

On Monday, Bashir Shaikh, an officer of the sessions court, Larkana, raided the Mahota police station after a villager, Maivo Khan Shar, a resident of the Gaho Khan Shar village, filed a petition alleging that the Mahota police had arrested his sons, Kehar Khan and Gahi Khan, kept them in habeas corpus and tortured them.

He (the officer of the court) found both the victims at the police station where the in charge had failed to produce any evidence proving their detention.

Sarfaraz Khan Jatoi appeared on behalf of the petitioner on Tuesday in the court where the detainees were also produced.

The judge, Abdul Ghani Soomro, referred the victims to the Chandka Medical College Teaching Hospital for treatment. He fixed May 13 as the next hearing date.

Both the DSP, Saddar Akhtar Chandio, and the SHO, Mahota police station, Zulfiqar Pathan, have been asked to appear before the court and explain as to why they had kept the villagers in illegal detention and tortured them.

When this correspondent contacted the DPO, he said that he has appointed the ASP, city, Mohammed Alam Shinwari, as inquiry officer, who would submit his findings for initiating action if the charges against both the officers were proved.

TEXTBOOKS: By widening the scope of the inquiry into the selling of textbooks in the market instead of providing them to the students in Larkana, the inquiry officer, EDO (finance), Yaseen Shar, on Tuesday asked the district officers (revenue) to submit a report in this regard within a week.