ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the Punjab police chief to take action with the assistance of the provincial government against bandits in the kutcha area in Rahim Yar Khan bordering the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan.

A two-judge SC bench comprising Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel issued the order while hearing a suo motu case against the Aug 4 incident of vandalism of the Ganesh Mandir in Bhong village of Rahim Yar Khan.

Also, the court expressed dismay over perceived foot-dragging for not arresting the relevant Station House Officer (SHO) who had arrested a minor boy of Hindu faith for allegedly urinating at a local mosque and ordered immediate arrest of the culprits involved in the tragic incident of torching the Hindu temple.

Summons commissioner, deputy in temple vandalism case

The chief justice observed that it was not enough to initiate just a departmental inquiry against the SHO as he should have been arrested. He also summoned the commissioner and the deputy commissioner concerned to appear before the court in the case at the next hearing.

The court directed early completion of the trial of the suspects involved in the incident by holding day to day proceedings with a directive for the provincial government to consider the offer by local philanthropist Sardar Rais Munir Ahmed who donated five-acre land near the Hindu temple for establishing the office of Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) or the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) headquarters. The police force deputed at the SDPO will help in checking not only the incidents like the vandalism of the Hindu temple but also high-handedness of the dacoits from the kutcha area bordering the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan.

The court also ordered recovering the cost of damaging the temple from those involved in the acts of vandalism and the amount so recovered be provided to the temple administration.

Additional Advocate General for Punjab Qasim Nawaz Chowhan apprised the bench that the police had arrested 95 suspects and sought assistance of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) for identification of the suspects.

However, the SC reminded the government counsel that when the faces of those involved in the incident were clearly shown in media footage, the police instead of writing letters to Nadra and awaiting their response should act and take prompt action.

The directive for launching prompt action against the dacoits came when senior counsel Syed Qalbe Hassan, representing the land donor, highlighted the law and order situation in Rahim Yar Khan where gangs of Rajanpur operate and often kidnap children for ransom or to blackmail the Hindu community dealing in jewellery.

The donor, Mr Munir, had earlier requested the court to make him a necessary party in the case and sought a directive for a fact-finding inquiry into the Hindu temple vandalism. In an application filed before the court, he said he had not only donated the land for the Hindu temple and the SDPO office at Bhong in tehsil Sadiqabad but also requested the Punjab government to construct the police office, but nothing was done. The land reserved for the police office is at a close proximity with the Hindu temple, though a police station with a meagre force also existed there.

According to him, as any police action requires sanction and approval from the Sadiqabad office, it not only consumes time but also results in police failure in taking prompt action.

Mr Munir through his plea also informed the court that he had already donated a precious land for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor interchange at Bhong village which, if constructed, would shorten the travel time and enable prompt police action.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2021