DADU, Jan 8: A leader of the Pakistan People’s Party and former law minister, Pir Mazharul Haq, has said that his rival PML-Q candidate contesting for PS-74, Syed Mohammad Shah, was victimising the PPP activists and supporters in Dadu.

Talking to journalists, he said that local party leaders, Asad Shah, Sattar Mallah held a Quran Khawani for PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto in Sita road but SHO of Rajodero police station, Abbas Babbar, threatened them of implication in fake cases and police also raided their homes to arrest them.

He said that PPP candidate for NA-232, Rafique Ahmed Jamali and others held a Quran Khawani at Nandhi Sita and Rajodero hence police were conducting raids at homes of their supporters as a pressure tactics.

He said that so far fake cases were registered against PPP candidates, Rafique Ahmed Jamali (NA-232), Talat Hussain Mahessar (NA-233), Pir Mazharul Haq (PS-74), Syed Ghulam Shah Jilani (PS-75), Imran Leghari (PS-76) Fayyaz Ahmed Butt (PS-77) after assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

He demanded of the election commission and other authorities to take notice of such incidents.When contacted, DPO operation Dadu, Zafar Iqbal Awan said that private persons had lodged FIRs against PPP workers.

He said that cases were registered by those who had sustained losses of millions of rupees during violence, as their properties were burnt. He claimed that police were neutral and so far 235 FIRs have been lodged against the 9,400 people in the district since December 27 and process of lodging of FIRs was continuing.

Our Badin Correspondent adds: Pakistan People’s Party candidate for NA-225 and PS-57 Tando Bago Dr Fehmida Mirza has alleged that a large number of PPP workers have been implicated in cases pertaining to rioting after assassination of party leader Benazir Bhutto to restrain PPP supporters from election campaigning.

Talking to Dawn on telephone from Karachi on Monday, she alleged that law-enforcing agencies were harassing PPP activists to pave way for rigging in the elections.

She claimed that 25,000 people had been booked in the rioting cases across the district.

Badin district PPP president Dr Sikandar Ali Mandhro said that a five-member committee of lawyers had been constituted to represent innocent people implicated in such cases by the police. He asked such persons to contact the district president of Peoples Lawyers Forum, Essa Mallah advocate, for getting legal aid.

According to police source, 193 FIRs pertaining to post-Dec 27 2007 rioting have been registered in the district in which most of the accused are identified. However, 866 accused have been nominated and so far 93 of them have been arrested and 20 remanded to police custody.

Our Mithi Correspondent adds: The president of the Tharparkar chapter of Pakistan People’s Party Mahesh Kumar Malani urged the government on Tuesday to take notice of registration of fake cases against party workers and supporters, which he claimed were being used to pressurise them to change loyalty.

Mr Malani, who is also PPP candidate for NA-229, alleged in a press release that police, at the instigation of Arbabs, registered fake FIRs against a host of party supporters and interestingly also nominated 19 government employees including nine gazetted officers.