THATTA: Two licensed weapons belonging to a former additional deputy commissioner, Nek Mohammad, were stolen from his house but the local police appeared not ready to register an FIR against the suspected thieves.

The octogenarian former bureaucrat has been visiting the Bohara police station for four days to get his FIR registered but the in-charge of the police station, ASI Ghulam Hader Janwari, has not obliged him so far although the complainant tried to convince him that it was a highly sensitive matter as the weapons could be used in criminal activities and he could have to face the consequences.

After getting exhausted, Nek Mohammad came to Thatta Press Club, about 100 kilometres from his residence in deh Sehoro, to narrate his ordeal. He told journalists that he found his licensed rifle and pistol missing when he entered the guest room of his house on Wednesday evening. He said he tried to locate the weapons until next morning and then went to the Bohara police station to report the incident. However, the police did not register the missing or theft FIR. In the meantime, he added, he engaged some local footprint experts who tracked down the culprits’ route. He said the exercise led the experts to the residence of an influential feudal lord of the area.

The former ADC, who mostly served in coastal districts of the province, said he was disappointed when the police officer regretted that he could not lay hands on anyone protected by the feudal lord. He said that ASI Janwari also did not oblige the Thatta SSP when he asked him to register the FIR.

“I strongly believe that the police officer has already alerted the suspects and advised him to go into hiding,” Nek Mohammad said, adding that he himself was being advised by the feudal lords’ men not to nominate the suspects in the FIR.

Disturbed by fear of possible use of his weapons in some criminal activity, the octogenarian ex-bureaucrat has urged the Sindh police chief to look into the matter, help recover the weapons and get the thieves arrested.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2022