HYDERABAD, Aug 23: A division bench of the Sindh High Court, Hyderabad circuit bench, on Friday appointed the district police officer, Hyderabad, as inquiry officer to investigate the matter of illegal detention of a man at the Fort police station.

The bench comprising Justice Mohammad Roshan Essani and Justice Amir Hani Muslim passed the order on a constitutional petition, filed by Raisa Begum, whose husband was found in illegal detention at the Fort police station during a raid conducted by a high court official, Hidayatullah.

The petitioner had cited ASI Tahir Shah, SHO Fort police station and four private persons as respondents.

She said that on Aug 20, the petitioner along with her husband, Abdul Waheed, were present at their saw mill when the private respondents brought ASI Tahir Shah and eight other policemen there who trespassed into the mill, caught hold of her hair and dragged her.

She alleged that ASI Tahir Shah looted Rs10,000 from the cash box even though they tried to restrain the policemen from doing so, and added that the ASI locked the mill after a private respondent, Javed, took away some documents.

She said that when she went to the police station along with her well-wishers, she saw the private respondents giving bribe to the police.

She prayed the court to appoint a commissioner for conducting a raid at the Fort police station.

She told the court that no FIR was registered against her husband.

She said that the police should be directed to unlock the saw mill and her FIR should be lodged against the private/official respondents.

A high court official, Hidayatullah, raided the Fort police station and found the detenu sitting on the bench in the duty officer’s room.

He checked the record and did not find any entry regarding his detention.

He submitted his report to the court with directives to the SHO, Fort police station, Hyder Abbas Naqvi, to appear before the court.

SHO Naqvi in his statement said that, in fact, it was a property dispute of the petitioner with another party. He added that Abdul Waheed was not picked up by the police and he had come to meet ASI Tahir Shah when a high court official arrived at the police station.

The court, however, directed the DPO, Hyderabad, to conduct an inquiry into the matter and submit his report within four weeks.

The detenu was set free.

STABBED TO DEATH: A relative of Makhdoom Amin Faheem, chief of the Pakistan People’s Parliamentarians, Makhdoom Sajid Hussain, was stabbed to death in Makhdoom Mohalla within the jurisdiction of the Hala police station on Friday night.