Interior minister takes notice of Hindu kidnappings

Three Hindu men, who disappeared last week from Kandhkot, remain missing.


Our Correspondent December 16, 2014

SUKKUR: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar has taken notice of the kidnapping of three Hindu men from the Kashmore-Kandhkot and Shikarpur districts. He has ordered the police for a full report of the investigation.

So far police have been unsuccessful in recovering the men who were kidnapped nearly five days ago.

What happened

On Thursday evening, MK* and RK*, both residents of Nanik Muhalla, had gone to the Irrigation Bungalow for their evening walk. When they did not return home, their relatives started searching for them but to no avail.

Another Hindu youth, JR*, was kidnapped by assailants near Karampur Laro in Shikarpur on Friday night. The youth was in a wagon on the way back to Kandhkot, after paying a visit to Shahbaz Qalandar’s shrine. When the wagon reached near Karampur Laro, a group of assailants intercepted the vehicle and after identifying the victim, took him hostage and fled.

Protests

Members of the Hindu Naujawan Ittehad (HNI) and Kandhkot Samaji Ittehad led by Santosh Kumar Agarwal and Raja Baboo Esani protested in front of Kandhkot Press Club.

The protesters shouted slogans against the police and said that they had failed to maintain the law and order situation in the district. They demanded that the men should be recovered immediately.

Follow-up

On Monday, Sindh minister for works and services Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani and former MNA and district Nazim Kashmore Sardar Saleem Jan Mazari went to Kandhkot to meet with the families of the three men.

They said that they had taken up the issue with the police and were hopeful that the men will be recovered soon.

Sources claim that MK and RK were picked up by intelligence agencies due to their ‘suspicious activities’ and will be released after an investigation. MK worked at the grain market and was good friends with RK. JR, sources added, worked for a mobile phone company, and was allegedly involved in selling unregistered SIM cards.

The president of the HNI, Santosh Agarwal, told The Express Tribune that the interior minister had contacted him and asked for a detailed report. He added that the community had also organised a sit-in and held prayers at the Mata Sheranwali temple for the safe recovery of their men.

According to Agarwal, if the men were not recovered soon, they will hold a complete shutter-down protest. The SSP Kashmore-Kandhkot Umer Tufail was not available for a comment.

*Names have been withheld to protect identities

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17th, 2014.

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