KARACHI, Feb 27: Chief Minister Sardar Ali Mohammad Mahar has suspended all the officials - from SHO to constable - posted at the Gadap police station at the time of the recovery of the bodies of Hajra and Sassi.
In a handout issued here on Friday, the CM directed the provincial police chief to constitute a special team comprising three experienced SPs to conduct investigation on daily basis into the killing of the two minor girls.
The investigation team should encamp itself at the Gadap police station till completion of the investigation, he ordered. Meanwhile, the police could not arrest any of the officials named in the FIR of the case. They, however, have taken remand of two officials, who were nominated in another FIR pertaining to 'negligence in duty'.
The DIG Investigation, Mohammad Akbar, said the police were questioning seven police officials in the double murder case and that they were associated with the investigation process. "They are detained and not arrested so far. We are grilling them," he told Dawn on Friday.
The DIG said the suspended SHO of Gadap, Munir Phulpotto and SI Ishtiaq, had been arrested for negligence in duty and were also being grilled in the murder case.
Besides them, five officials - ASI Shafquat, head-constable Rao Tahir and constables Naveed, Nazar Ali Abro and Salman Shah - were also being questioned as the room of the veterinary hospital, from where the bodies were recovered, was in their use.
In the double murder case (FIR No.26/04), SHO Munir Phulpotto, SI Ishtiaq, ASI Pawan Kumar and head-constable Rao Tahir Rajput have been nominated. However, SHO Munir and SI Ishtiaq have been arrested in negligence case (FIR No.28/04) and not in the double murder case. ASI Pawan Kumar is also absconding, according to the police.
According to press reports, police had obtained remand till Feb 27 of five officials - Munir Phulpotto, Ishtiaq, Pawan Kumar, Mohammad Akram, and Rao Tahir -, but DIG Operations Tariq Jamil said: "We have obtained remand of Munir and Ishtiaq from a Malir court. Only two officials have been arrested in negligence case."
He said the suspects would be produced before the court again, on expiry of the remand, and further remand would be obtained. According to sources in the Investigation Wing, 35 people, including police officials, have been interrogated and their statements recorded. None of them had heard the gunshots.
The investigation team has also failed to recover the weapon of killing. The place was searched thoroughly but no pistol was found. The bodies of Hajra, 8, and Sassi, 5, who went missing on Feb 20, were found at a place adjacent to the Gadap police station on Feb 23.
A visit to the site showed that parts of the premises, surrounded by a compound wall, were in the illegal occupation of the policemen who had been using three rooms for residential purposes. Hajra's head was hit with a blunt object and Sassi was shot in the head, the postmortem examination report said.
The investigation wing sources said that attempt was made to match the number of the buckle, found near at the scene of murder, with the computerized numbers list but it could not be detected. Following the introduction of new police system, computerized numbers were allotted to the police officials in place of their old buckle numbers, they pointed out.
They quoted the detained accused as saying that the two girls had come to the police station to see their maternal uncle - constable Ghulam Ali - posted in the Gadap police station. However, Ghulam Ali had maintained that the girls did not come to the police station and he did not meet them.
The sources said that the body viscera and the clothes were deposited with the histopathological and chemical examiner's office and the report was awaited. A tailor, Gul Sher (Sassi's father) said: "We do not have enmity with anyone. I have a son Javed, 6, and a daughter Nusrat, 2. Sassi was only five."
He said that all the evidence found, emerged from a nearby room which was in the use of head-constable Rao Tahir. "He is the main culprit but police have not arrested him so far." he alleged.
He said that as soon as the news about the recovery of the bodies from the bushes spread, Rao Tahir and Pawan Kumar fled from the police station and disappeared.
Shabbir Ahmed, Hajra's father also accused Rao Tahir of killing the two girls for unknown reasons. He said that he did not have enmity with anyone. "I am a watchman at a cattle pen. I have a daughter aged 11 years, Sahal, and a four-month-old daughter, Kainat," he added.
The fathers of both the deceased girls demanded that the killers be arrested and publicly hanged so that no one could dare to commit such a ghastly crime in future.