KARACHI, Dec 24: Home Minister Rauf Siddiqui on Friday assured the Sindh Assembly that he would soon take the house into confidence about the measures being taken for the safe recovery of two kidnapped judges.

He requested the house not to raise this issue at this point of time as this might endanger the life of the kidnap victims. The minister was responding to a point of order raised by a PPP member Ayaz Soomro who had criticized the government for its failure to protect and recover the judges who had been kidnapped from Shikarpur many days back.

Mr Soomro questioned that how could a common man feel secure when the figures dispensing justice were being kidnapped in the province. The minister maintained that he had appealed the district bars also not to raise their voice at this juncture and had assured them that they would be allowed to register their protest after the judges were recovered.

He claimed that one of the three judges was recovered. However, the opposition maintained that the judge had been allowed by his kidnappers to go home. Rauf Siddiqui was of the view that certain press reports about the incident and its follow up were not credible and the opposition should take them accordingly.

The reports had suggested that the kidnappers had left behind the third judge who could not move fast while the victims were being taken to some hideout. The minister, calling for patience, recalled that in a similar incident, the government had succeeded in recovering the kidnap victim, Santosh Kumar, safely.

Dr Nasrullah Baloch, pointing out contradiction in the minister's statement, asked him to tell the house whether the judge was got freed by the government or released by kidnappers on health grounds.

Earlier, the home minister assured the house that he would come out with details about the arrest of Qazi Mohammad Ashraf by navy officials from Naval Colony. The case was taken up on the floor of the house by MMA leader Maulana Omar Sadiq.

About demolition of houses in some villages in the Maulana's constituency, Revenue Minister Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh informed the house that the DCO and CCPO had since been restrained in this regard.

Mohammad Hussain of the MQM told the house that in accordance with the devolution plan, dispensaries, district hospitals, schools and intermediate colleges were functioning under the district governments but no staff was made available despite granting of approval. He called for steps to save these institutions from devastation.

Sassui Palejo of the PPP said that out of 1,300 employees of the Thatta Sugar Mills, 200 had either attempted or committed suicide. She asked why the employees were not being offered golden handshake.