SANGHAR, April 21: A four-member investigation committee, headed by Sindh IGP Syed Kamal Shah, on Wednesday visited the site of the killing of a couple, Hassan Solangi and Shazia Khaskheli, at the Sim Nala near here.

The committee has the AIG, investigation, Syed Nayyar Hasnain; DIG, Investigation, Karachi, Mohammad Akbar Arain; and DPO, Mirpurkhas, Dr Amin Yousufzai, as members.

It has been constituted on the orders of the Supreme Court to investigate the murder of Hasan and Shazia who had been killed byrelatives of the girl and Khaskheli clansmen on Oct 8, 2003 because the girl had married against the will of her father. The committee also recorded statements of police officers who had investigated the case, father of Hassan Solangi, some journalists and members of Khaskheli community.

Contents of the statements were not disclosed by the IG but he said that if any negligence, misconduct or malafide intentions were found on behalf of police, they would not be spared and departmental action was constituted. on the order of Supreme Court would be taken against them.

He said that even if heirs of the couple had reached a compromise, police were not authorized to pardon the killers. Nor would that exonerate policemen who had shown professional incompetence and had conducted a flawed investigation in the case, he added.

Regarding law and order in the province, the IGP said that excepting some districts of upper Sindh, it was satisfactory. He said that police department would provide latest equipments to its staff to fight with outlaws.

Mother of ASI Mohammad Hayat Babbur, who was killed in 2001 during an encounter with bandit Yousuf Mari in Berani, complained that neither the GP fund of her son had not been paid nor employment in police department had been provided to her another son as had been promised.

The IG asked her to meet him in Karachi on Thursday where her problems would be solved. He said that a notification had been issued on January 19, 2001, regarding payment of salaries of those policemen and officials who had been killed during performance of duty to their heirs. Their widows or heirs would get their salary till the time the deceased would have been 60 years of age.