SANGHAR, May 26: The district and sessions judge Ms. Kausar Sultana Hussain on Saturday dismissed the investigation police's application for getting physical remand of former DIG Rana Salimullah Khan and adjourned hearing of his application for bail to June 2 after hearing the two sides.

Defence lawyer Salahuddin Panhwar argued that the FIR against the former DIG carried no signature of the complainant, which proved it was a fabricated case lodged by Khipro police under the instructions of higher authorities.

He said that the former DIG had acted on the orders of the Supreme Court to investigate and locate the missing family members of Mannu Bheel. Ms. Raj Bai and Ms. Jama were neither kidnapped nor kept in wrongful confinement but they were taken into custody to have their DNA test carried out because police suspected they were the missing daughters of Mannu Bheel.

Mr. Panhwar said that at the most it could be a case of misconduct hence should be dealt with under section 156.

DSP Legal Mohammad Aslam Gill charged that the former DIG had kidnapped the women and overstepped his powers by keeping them in illegal confinement. If the former prime ministers could be punished for the misdeeds then why not a DIG could be punished, he was not above the law, he said.

Mr Khan, who is imprisoned in the district jail of Mirpurkhas faces charges under a case registered at Khipro police station under section 458, 354, 344, 220, 506 PPC and R/W 155-C, 156 Police Ordinance 2007 and another case lodged at town police station of Mirpurkhas.

FREED: The 38 bonded labourers, including women and children, the Khipro police found in a bonded labour camp in the Dhalyar village near Khipro were produced before the district and sessions judge Ms. Kausar Sultana Hussain on Saturday who ordered to set them free.