HYDERABAD: A policeman and one of his two associates were arrested after they were booked in a murder case.

The police constable, Ali Raza Chandio, allegedly went to the agricultural lands of Dr Kareem Abbasi in Leghari Goth along with the other private suspects late on Sunday evening and harassed labourers, including Mahu Kolhi, son of Jagu Kolhi, who were present there.

The constable, in civvies, reportedly accused Mahu of running a liquor den which the latter denied. Chandio tried to catch hold of him but he tried to escape upon which the constable opened fire. Mahu suffered a bullet wound and died while he was being taken to a hospital.

Relatives of the deceased took his body to the nearby section of the Hyderabad-Mirpurkhas road and held a protest sit-in causing suspension of traffic movement for several hours.

During the course of Kolhis’ protest, local Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Mir Sher Mohammad Talpur, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf divisional president Khawand Bux Jahejo and other activists visited the venue to express solidarity with the protesters.

Hyderabad SSP Sarfaraz Nawaz took notice of the unrest and ordered arrest of Ali Raza Chandio, who is currently posted at the Tandojam police station, and one of the two other suspects, Khurram Rajput, a private person.

Wali Mohammad Abbasi, the manager of Dr Abbasi’s lands, told police that Chandio, Rajput and another private person, Shahzaib, resorted to harassing farm workers and when they tried to escape, constable Chan­dio opened fired on them woun­ding Mahu Kolhi. He said Mahu was being shifted to the civil hospital in Hyderabad but he died on the way.

A police statement, however, said that the constable “went there in civvies without the knowledge of the SHO concerned along with Rajput”. It said his pistol “accidentally” went off killing Mahu Kolhi on the spot.

An FIR (No. 214/2018) was registered on the complaint of Jagu Kolhi. Chandio and Rajput have been shown arrested.

FIR against SI of Sialkot police

The 9th additional district judge of Hyderabad on Monday has ordered registration of an FIR against a sub-inspector of the Sialkot police if a cognizable offence is made out in a kidnap, harassment and ransacking of private property complaint.

The order was passed on an application filed in the court by a 72-year-old restaurant owner, Riaz Hussain, who cited SI Moh­ammad Irfan of the Sialkot police, Ayaz Lashari alias Raja, a private person and SHOs of the City, Market and Pinyari police stations of Hyderabad as respon­dents.

According to the applicant, eight unknown persons riding motorbikes and a car came to the house of his brother at around 2.30pm on Nov 1 and took away his (applicant’s) nephew, Awais Iqbal, from within the area of the Market police station.

In the evening they trespassed his (applicant’s) flat and threatened his family with serious consequences. A couple of hours later, they went to the house of his counsel in the Kali Mori area within the jurisdiction of the Pinyari police station, broke open the lock and ransacked home appliances present inside.

At around midnight, he stated, 15 armed men barged into his restaurant on Risala Road and destroyed cooked food and utensils. One of them, in police uniform, told him that they were looking for a man, Imran, he said, adding that they threatened him with dire consequences when he denied having any knowledge about Imran.

The applicant said that when he approached the Hyderabad SSP, he came to know that his nephew, Awais Iqbal, was actually detained by the Sialkot police.

On the SSP’s intervention, Awais was released, he added.

The applicant prayed to the court to restrain the respondents from harassing him. He also sought the court’s directive for the registration of his FIR against the Sialkot police.

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2018