SUKKUR: A jirga (tribal court) presided over by a feudal lord, Iqbal Ahmed Bijarani, on Sunday slapped a fine of Rs4.7 million on Ghulam Shabbir Bhayo, the then SHO of the Jamal police station of Tangwani town in Kandhkot-Kashmore district, after declaring him guilty of killing a farmer in a fake encounter about 10 months ago.

The jirga was convened on a request from the family of the victim, Ghulam Hussain Jaffery. It was attended by a large number of people belonging to the Bhayo and Jaffery community members.

Iqbal Bijarani heard the aggrieved and accused sides represented by their respective counsel and, after consultation, reached the conclusion that the police officer had killed Ghulam Hussain Jaffery in a staged encounter near Mohammad Ameen Jaffery village.

He ordered Ghulam Shabbir Bhayo and his community to pay a fine of Rs4.7m to the victim’s heirs through his brother, Gul Hassan Jafferi.

The jirga ruling was accepted by both the sides. The Bhayo community deposited an amount of Rs200,000 with the jirga convener and undertook to pay off the remaining fine amount in three instalments within the next three months.

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2023