KARACHI, April 25: Justice Syed Zawwar Hussain Jaffery of the Sindh High Court, who is conducting an inquiry into the custodial death of Balochistan National Party activist, Sardar Hasan Gichki, asked Prof Zubair Zaidi, head of the department of pathology, Dow University of Health and Medical Sciences, to record his statement on Wednesday.

Professors Ghulam Ali, Pervez Makhdoom and Irfan Qureshi, who conducted the second post-mortem examination of the deceased, and tentatively found that the body carried tell-tale signs of torture, said they could not submit their final report till they received histopathology report from Prof Zaidi. The judge issued the professor a notice through the home department.

Recording his testimony, Qambar Ali Gichki, cousin of the deceased and complainant in the murder case lodged with the police, earlier reiterated his allegations against the superintendents of Central Prison and Landhi Jail and their eight subordinates. Transferring the late BNP activist to the Central Prison, the Landhi Jail superintendent, according to the witness, told his counterpart that he was sending him ‘a gift’. He said Hasan Gichki was subjected to extortion and deprived of his personal effects before his death by torture.

Hasan Gichki was an engineer by profession and a former chief executive of Lasbela Development Authority. He was cousin of incumbent chief minister (Jam Yousuf) and brother-in-law of former chief minister Akhtar Mengal. His and BNP chief’s father-in-law, Aslam Gichki, was shot dead about three years ago.