Targeted: Environment tribunal chief killed in Quetta

Sakhi Sultan was shot dead in his office; banned BLA accepts responsibility.

QUETTA:

Environmental Tribunal’s Chairman Sakhi Sultan was shot dead in his office on Friday. Later banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) called media houses in Quetta and claimed responsibility for the attack.

Talking to The Express Tribune, the Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Quetta Abdul Razaaq Cheema said two unknown armed men entered the Environmental Tribunal chief’s office in Shahbaz Town Phase-III while he was busy at work.

“They came into his office on the pretext of meeting him and shot him in the head with a 9mm pistol,” Cheema said, adding that the assailants used silencers while shooting.

“As many as five other employees were also present in the office when the incident took place,” said another police source.

Police reached the site shortly after the incident and took the body to the Civil Hospital Quetta. They also conducted a search operation in the area.

In the meanwhile, a large number of lawyers gathered outside the hospital and protested against Sultan’s killing. Balochistan Bar Association and other lawyers’ organisations announced they will observe three-day mourning and boycott court proceedings.

Taking notice of the incident, Balochistan CM Dr Abdul Malik Baloch condemned Sultan’s murder and ordered a thorough inquiry into the incident. Dr Malik said Sakhi Sultan belonged to a family with a political background and his services for promotion of democracy were laudable.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 21^st, 2014.