Lyari operation: Babies kept crying for milk, court hears

SHC asks petitioner to identify people who went missing during the crackdown.

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has ordered the provincial government and the inspector general of police to submit their comments within two weeks on the botched Lyari operation.

Advocate Salahuddin Gandapur had submitted in his petition that the operation was launched with mala fide intention and thousands of people were held hostage by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) officers for almost a week.

On Friday, the petitioner submitted that dozens of people were killed and many went missing during the unsuccessful operation in one of the oldest localities of the city.

Gandapur requested the court to order the government to pay compensation to the heirs of those killed in the operation and to the owners of houses burnt or damaged.

Justices Faisal Arab and Nadeem Akhtar asked him to file a list of people who went missing during the week-long operation. The petitioner claimed that the operation violated the fundamental human rights of the citizens of Lyari.

The houses of hundreds of people were damaged or burnt by the CID police officials, he said. As rations were exhausted, babies kept crying for milk but the people could not go out due to the constant gunfire, Gandapur added.

After hearing the petitioner in person, the bench directed the Sindh government and the police chief to give their response on the petition within two weeks. The court adjourned to an unspecified date.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 26^th, 2012.