HYDERABAD, Nov 25: A division bench of the Sindh High Court on Thursday issued notices to DPO, DCO, EDO revenue and other officials of the Dadu district to appear in the court on Dec 16 in a land grabbing case.

Mir Ahmed Mangrio and Mehmoodul Hassan, residents of Kotri, filed a petition through Ayaz Latif Palejo advocate and requested the court to direct officials concerned to conduct an inquiry against police and revenue officials who had committed forgery and supported land grabbers.

They said on the day of Eidul Fitr police team headed by ADPO Mazhar Nawaz Sheikh and SHO Farooque Qadir Lakhair prevented hundreds of the faithful from offering Eid prayers and resorted to aerial firing to disperse them.

They alleged all this was done on the instigation of Allah Warayo Jamali and Mehboob Ali Shah who wanted to occupy a public ground. They said a civil suit was pending with the senior civil judge but police officials surrounded people who were performing Eid prayers at Dargah Garho village ground in Kotri.

The police arrested 216 people without any warrant of arrest and lodged four false FIRs against them. The police tortured them and allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs50,000 from each one for their release, the petitioners said.

The petitioners claimed that the senior civil judge had verbally allowed people to offer Eid prayers whereas Mukhtiarkar Kotri in his comments had said that Allah Warayo had forged papers of the ground which was government property.

They said the residents had submitted application to the EDO revenue Dadu, mentioning that the plot was used for purpose of public and children park, Eidgah ground and for social activities for 20 years.

They said the residents submitted an application to the DDO revenue Kotri on Sept 6, stating that Allah Warayo and others through an error or by fraud had prepared bogus documents which should be cancelled.

The petitioners referred to telegram sent by Khuda Bux Joyo to the president of Pakistan, narrating facts of the case regarding activities of Allah Warayo who wanted to occupy amenity plot in Kotri's Bhittai colony area.

They prayed the court to order registration of FIR against land grabbers and their accomplices in police and bureaucracy. They requested that police officials should be restrained from harassing and humiliating petitioners and others.