ISLAMABAD, March 20: The Supreme Court was informed on Wednesday that the Balochistan government would request the Election Commission (ECP) to hold elections in Dera Bugti district on the basis of the 2008 voter list. The Balochistan chief secretary told the court that he had discussed the idea with Advocate Shahid Hamid, representing the provincial government, since the number of voters in the violence-hit Dera Bugti had declined to 64,000 from 95,000 registered in the 2008 list because a number of internally displaced people were living outside the district.

“We will soon take up this matter with the ECP,” the chief secretary informed the court, which had taken up a petition on the law and order situation in Balochistan. In this way all those who had left the district would be able to cast their votes, he argued.

The court suggested to the provincial administration to thrash out a plan to ensure that all voters exercised their right to franchise.

The chief secretary said the provincial government was taking measures to ensure that the elections were held in a peaceful environment and in a free and fair manner and candidates were provided full protection. But he said that extra efforts were required to establish the writ of the government in Kalat, Khuzdar, Dera Bugti, Panjgoor, Gwadar, Turbat and Avaran districts.

Advocate Hamid submitted a report on missing persons on behalf of the deputy inspector general of the Crimes Investigation Department (CID) which said 48 people could not be traced.

The report also said a number of uniformed officers were facing charges of involvement in abducting people. The list suggests that witnesses or complainants nominated Maj Moheen (Usama) in the abduction of Shabbir Ahmed from Quetta; Maj Tariq and Maj Tahir for kidnapping Ali Hasan from Khuzdar; Col Aurangzeb for abducting Abdul Malik from Noshki; Col Naeem for abducting Abdul Ghafar Mengal from Khuzdar; Maj Mohammad Rafi Badini for kidnapping Takari Abdul Wahid and Dad Mohammad from Mastung; Abdul Waheed and Syed Rasool of 73 Wing Ghaza Band Scouts, Quetta, for abducting Meharullah from Quetta; and Sobedar Momin Khan for kidnapping Shams Baloch from Sariab area of Quetta.

The court again ordered that the missing persons be recovered early.

Advocate Hamid informed the court that police had arrested the suspects and identified the workshop where an ambulance and a water tanker had been loaded with explosives used in the two devastating bomb blasts in Quetta’s Alamdar Road and Hazara Town.

The Inspector General of Balochistan, Mushtaq Sukhaira, informed the court that police had arrested 11 children used as cover in bomb blasts.

The court was informed that an amount of Rs1 million each was being paid to legal heirs of the people killed in the two bomb blasts. —Staff Reporter