QUETTA: Adviser to the Balochistan Chief Minister on Home and Tribal Affairs, Mir Ziaullah Langove, has said no pressure from any quarter would be accepted in the investigation against the suspects involved in the kidnapping and raping of two sisters, making their objectionable films and blackmailing them.

Speaking at a press conference after presiding over a meeting on the video scandal on Sunday, the adviser said the suspects would be given exemplary punishment.

He said Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo had taken serious note of the incident and a team of senior police officers was interrogating the main suspect and his accomplices.

Says law and order situation is not ideal in Quetta

He said the meeting discussed the issue and its impact on society. Police and other agencies had presented a report on the progress made so far in the scandal.

The adviser said some important decisions had been taken in the meeting about law and order and the Gwadar sit-in.

He said all videos and other objectionable material recovered from the suspects had been saved by the authorities to be produced as evidence in a court of law.

He regretted that people who lodged complaints did not cooperate with the police and other institutions. “Even in this case people who reported the incident to police are now missing.”

Mr Langove asked the affected people to come forward and cooperate with the investigating team. It was the right of people to protest, but the police needed their cooperation to bring the case to a logical end, he added.

In reply to a question about the Gwadar sit-in, he said Prime Minister Imran Khan had taken note of the demands of the sit-in participants.

He said the chief minister had taken notice first and steps were being taken to resolve the issue.

“We have implemented 16 out of 19 demands of the protesting people, while three demands relate to the federal government, which included stopping illegal trawlers, return of illegally seized boats and vehicles and opening of borders for trade.

Mr Langove said the law and order situation in Quetta was not ideal. “Balochistan is a victim of international terrorism. Hundreds of organisations are working here.”

Qadir Ali Nayal, a member of the Balochistan Assembly, Quetta Commissioner Sohailur Rehman Baloch, senior police officers and other officials attended the meeting.

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2021