HYDERABAD, May 8: The civil judge and judicial magistrate-I Raja Habibur Rehman found three persons illegally detained for more than a month and a half after a raid on Monday on the residence of an officer of the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco).

The case is fixed for Wednesday.

Manthar Qambrani of Tando Mohammad Khan filed an application before the sessions judge seeking recovery of his son Dildar and four others who were said to be employees of a landlord.

He told the judge that they had been put in detention at the residence of Attaullah Memon, an engineer in Hesco in Civil Lines. They were picked up on charges of a theft of Rs4 million, six kilogram of gold ornaments and other valuable items.

The judge found Ghulam Qadir Qambrani, Nisar Qambrani and Ghulam Yasin Khaskheli detained at the private residence and brought them to the magistrate's court for recording their statements.

They stated that after they were picked up their landlord handed them over to Cantonment police who kept them at Husri, Site and Cantonment police stations and regularly subjected them to torture.

Afterwards they were kept in the garage of the bungalow for one and a half months. The SHO of Cantonment police station used to visit the bungalow and subject them to maltreatment in the presence of Hesco official’s who, too, used to torture them.

They claimed that the whereabouts of Dildar Qambrani, Waqar Qambrani, the wife of Ghulam Yasin and his two-month-old baby were still not known. They were also with them for initial 10 days, they said and added that they were forced to consume filth and urine during detention.

The magistrate set them at liberty with directives to appear in sessions court on May 9.