QUETTA: Balochistan Home Minister Zia Langove said on Monday that the government would conduct a fair investigation into the death of Prof Arman Loni and those found responsible for it would be brought to justice.

Professor Loni, said to be a leader of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), died mysteriously during a scuffle between police and protesters in Loralai on Saturday.

The protesters were taking part in a sit-in set up against last week’s attack on the DIG office when the police tried to arrest a suspect among them.

Addressing a news conference here, the home minister said that an investigation into the death was under way and its findings would be made public.

Langove says those found involved will be brought to justice

He said the government wanted to assure the family of Professor Loni that it would look into all aspects of the incident and that those found responsible for his death would be arrested.

Mr Langove alleged that some political parties were doing politics on dead bodies and warned the the government would not allow them to disturb law and order.

He accused the PTM leadership of violating laws and challenging the writ of the state. He alleged that during the funeral of Professor Loni some elements tried to incite people against the state and the armed forces by raising slogans against them.

He said that despite the family’s refusal the government had conducted a post-mortem on Professor Loni’s body because it wanted to know the real cause of his death.

Additional IG Police Chaudhry Manzoor Sarwar and Balochistan Awami Party leader Azeem Kakar were present at the news conference.

Strike in Balochistan

A complete strike was observed in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan against the alleged murder of Professor Loni.

The strike call was given by the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party. The Awami National Party, National Party, Balochistan National Party-Mengal, Jamiat Ulema-i­-Islam, traders’ bodies and the Balochistan Bar Council supported the strike call.

All trade and business activities remained suspended in the provincial capital. The strike was also observed in Chaman, Loralai, Qilla Abdullah, Qilla Saifullah and other towns and cities of the province. Lawyers boycotted court proceedings in these areas.

Condemning the alleged murder of Professor Loni, Advocate Rahib Buledi said the legal community demanded constitution of a parliamentary commission to investigate the death.

Professor Loni’s family alleged that torture by the police was the real cause of his death.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2019