KARACHI, May 26: The tribunal probing the Nishtar Park carnage of April 11 pointed out a number of flaws in the investigation conducted by police so far and directed a town police officer to hold an inquiry into the jamming of cell phones immediately after the incident.

TPO Sanaullah Abbasi of Saddar Town would probe when exactly the mobile phone system went off, who ordered the closure and why? He would submit his report by June 2 and the inquiry would resume on June 5. Mobile phone companies were asked to co-operate with the TPO.

Except for the Pakistan Sunni Movement, no organization responded to the tribunal’s notice on Friday but Justice Rahmat Hussain Jafferi of the Sindh High Court, who constitutes it, said the parties concerned were free to join proceedings on the next date. Sunni Movement Chairman Shah Sirajul Haq Qadri was present along with his counsel, Advocate Javed Ahmed Chhatari.

Brig (retd) Mohammad Mohatram, CCPO Niaz Ahmed Siddiqui, DIG (Investigation) Munir Ahmed Mughal, Jamshed Town TPO Capt (retd) Naveed Tahir; medical officers Mohammad Shafi Patoli of JPMC and Abdul Jabbal Memon, Ahmed Ali Memon and Jago Dada of Civil Hospital; Additional Advocate-General Sarwar Khan and Assistant AG Qasim Mir Jat were in attendance as the proceedings commenced with the examination of investigation officer Sarfraz Ali, a sub-inspector.

The tribunal did not approve of the appointment of an SI with evidently inadequate experience as investigation officer in ‘such a high profile case’. It said a massive explosion occurred at the main Eid-i-Milad function and 52 people, including religious leaders, died on the spot.

DIG Amin Mughal came forward to clarify that the investigation was being supervised and coordinated by him. The tribunal pointed out that under the law, the investigation should have been completed within 15 days. It said its purpose in holding the inquiry was to ensure that the real culprits were brought to book and that measures were taken to prevent recurrence of violent incidents. If the investigation was as poorly conducted as it apparently was, the culprits were unlikely to be found by police and punished by a court.

The tribunal pointed out to DIG Munir Mughal that according to the record supplied to it, he had not maintained a proper verification record. There was diary entry about verification of statements, it said referring to the relevant provisions of investigation rules. No court of law would countenance a prosecution case without a verification register, it warned, and pointed out that it had the power to probe any matter and may even appoint an investigation officer.

The DIG said the incident occurred at 7.05pm and he reached the scene at 8-20pm. A special branch inspector was already at the place of occurrence. There was no crater or other mark of explosion and all he could see at the stage and the surrounding area was blood. He found small pellets but the police party had to leave to avoid a clash with the agitated people, who were crying, shouting slogans and burning tyres. He and other police officers visited different hospitals. The 52 dead included an unclaimed head, which was sent to Islamabad for DNA tests. Two persons first believed that unclaimed head was that of their missing brother but retracted their statement and the head remained unclaimed. Nothing could be said yet about the identity of people behind the blast.

The police officials met a number of injured and victims’ families, including Shah Turabul Haq and Haji Hanif Tayyab, and there were different versions of the event. Shah Turabul Haq, who holds the permit for the main Eid-i-Milad procession, led the Maghreb prayers in the Nishtar Park ground but he was not on the stage. Maulana Abdul Wahab led the prayers at the stage. The incident occurred when the members of the congregation were offering ‘sunnat’ after performing ‘farz rakaats’ and were in different positions. The blast originated from a point about 26 or 27 feet from the stage.

The tribunal pointed out that there was not a single statement about the exact spot where the blast or the place where the suicide bomber stood. According to the ballistic expert, the blast took place eight feet from the stage. Even the map drawn by the police was based on statements by those present at the scene. It was not substantiated by statements of witnesses. There was no recovery memo and nothing about the direction of pellets. It said pellets also hit pipes on which the stage was raised but while there were entry holes, there were no exit holes. No effort was apparently made certainly to recover pellets from the pipes. In fact, there was no proper recovery memo and there was only a general reference to the recovery of 20 pellets from the scene.

The inference that all the killings were caused by an explosion could also not be conclusive. Referring to medical reports, it said chest injuries could not have been caused by pellets. One report found ‘a blackened wound’ on the body of a victim. Blackening of wounds was caused only by gunpowder or bullet fired by or released with a weapon from a distance less than three feet. Most reports referred to ‘lacerated’ wounds without specifying the details, such as diameter and depth.

The tribunal said a couple of channels were covering the event on the spot and video films should have been obtained by the police from them. The DIG and the IO said the cameramen were having a break and there was no film of the explosion as it occurred. The police, however, recorded statements of cameramen and other media people present at the scene. The tribunal said the police should have traced pellet holes in the carpets placed on the stage.

The medical officers said they worked under great stress. There were threatening crowds all around the hospitals and some of the doctors were maltreated by the relatives of victims.