MIRPURKHAS, Nov 14: Police have arrested the driver of a landlord who, along with his men, had allegedly tortured a labourer and tried to burn him to death as punishment for stealing cotton in a village near Kot Ghulam Mohammad town on Saturday.

Mirpurkhas DPO Zulfiqar Maher has formed an inquiry committee comprising SPO of Sindhri Mohammad Ayoub Dars, SPO of Satellite town Bilawal Maher, SHO of Kot Ghulam Mohammad Lala Javed and investigation officer of Kot Ghulam Mohammad Abdul Sattar Soomro.

Malaar Bheel, an uncle of the cotton-picker Roop Chand, lodged an FIR at the Kot Ghulam Mohammad police station late on Saturday night and nominated the landlord Mir Abdul Rehman Talpur, his driver Jaffar Kapri, Hashim Kapri and Ilyas Kapri as the accused.

Malaar alleged that Roop Chand, 30, had come to the Kot Ghulam Mohammad area from a village in Mithi taluka to work in the farm of the landlord. He was accused of stealing 25 kilograms of cotton and detained in a room in the landlord's Autaq in Rabo village.

He alleged that Roop Chand was subjected to severe torture to force him to confess to the theft and was set on fire when he did not do so. Roop Chand suffered 80 per cent burns and was taken to Karachi where he is under treatment in the burns ward of the civil hospital and his condition is said to be serious.

Investigation officer Abdul Sattar Soomro has gone to Karachi to record Roop Chand's statement.

Kashif Bajir,a senior official of the Society for the Protection of the Rights of Child condemned the incident and said that he and a fact-finding team visited the Rabo village to speak to villagers and found that the allegation of cotton theft was false and fabricated.

In fact, he said that Roop Chand was going to his sister's house when he was kidnapped, kept in illegal confinement and tortured. He alleged that the landlord was being supported by a PPP MNA.

Mirpurkhas Action Committee chairman and rights activist Kanji Rano Bheel regretted that no minority MPA, no minister and not even a senior official had taken notice of the tragedy. He urged the president, prime minister and Chief Justice of Pakistan to take notice of the incident and ensure that the culprits were arrested, the victim received proper medical treatment and his family got financial assistance.

President of the Mirpurkhas chapter of Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz Riaz Leghari, and secretary Khuda Bux Chohan also condemned the incident.

Meanwhile, a large number of people belonging to the Bheel community held a demonstration in Jhuddo town on Sunday in protest against the incident.