BADIN: An elderly couple seriously injured during a police raid on their house on Wednesday was handcuffed at the Hyderabad Civil Hospital and several other villagers, including a 70-year-old man, were taken to an undisclosed place by the Nindho Shahar police, who registered an FIR against 50 suspects under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code and Anti-Terrorism Act on Thursday.

The FIR (22/2015) was registered on the complaint of Talhar SHO Manzoor Ahmed Korai at the Nindho Shahar police station stating that the suspects attacked a police team, held him and his colleagues hostage at gunpoint, obstructed police in the discharge of their official duties and created a law and order situation. He claimed that the police team was carrying out raids at suspected houses in Allah Rakhyo Bhurgari village in search of a young girl kidnapped a few days ago by three suspects nominated in an FIR at his police station.

SHO Korai showed arrest of three persons, Peer Bukhsh, Ms Anila and 70-year-old Ms Jhami but did not disclose their whereabouts. Yousuf Bhurgari, 62, and Begum Bhurgari, 60, who were shifted and admitted to the Hyderabad Civil Hospital for treatment of their serious injuries, were handcuffed, their relatives claimed.

The villagers were injured and arrested when they reacted to trespassing and manhandling of a number of men and women by what they believed were “intruders” and caught hold of two of them. However, the intruders later turned out to be police in civvies when the men in captivity identified themselves as SHO Korai and constable Qurban Ali.

The villagers reaction led to a large scale operation during which, according to the villagers, many men and women were badly beaten up, their houses ransacked and torched and their belongings taken away by a big police force led by a DSP that stormed the village to “get the two hostages freed and arrest unruly people”.

Calling for a judicial inquiry into the whole affair, residents of Allah Rakhyo Bhurgari village said that almost all 25 suspects nominated in the FIR were aged between 50 and 70.

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2015

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