Killing of LG representative: Civil society demands inquiry, arrest of killers in Dadu

Raees Chandio and his two sons were shot dead at their house on Jan 17 in Dadu

HYDERABAD: Expressing solidarity with slain local government representative Raees Karamullah Chandio and his two sons in Dadu district, a large number of civil society members staged a protest in Chandio's hometown on Wednesday.

They demanded the arrest of the politically influential persons who are allegedly involved in the murder of Raees, Mukhtiari Chandio and Kamil Chandio who were shot dead in an armed attack on their house in Ahmed Colony, Mehar taluka, on January 17.

"The incident has set in motion resistance against the feudal system," Jami Chandio, an activist and intellectual, declared while addressing the protesters who staged a token sit-in demonstration at Clock Tower Square in Mehar.



The protesters blamed Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) for protecting the killers because the FIR included one of the party's MNAs.

PPP MPA Nawab Sardar Ahmed Chandio, his brother Nawab Burhan Ahmed Chandio and five other persons have been nominated in the FIR registered on the complaint of Pervez Chandio, Raees's son. He claimed that the MPA threatened his father and family members for their defiance of his orders.

According to the locals, both sides of the Chandio tribes remained ensnared in a vendetta. During the clash, one of the men allegedly belonging to the assailant's side, Ghulam Qadir Chandio alias Qadu, was also shot dead while a few others were injured.

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Regional Coordinator Dr Ashothama Lohana, Punhal Sario, Noor Muhammad Bajeer, poet Bedal Masroor and dozens of other civil society activists participated in the sit-in.



The protesters demanded a judicial inquiry into the case and rejected the ongoing investigation led by Hyderabad SSP Peer Muhammad Shah.

"The tribal system is being enforced in Sindh. Jirgas are being conducted under the provincial government's nose," lamented Sario.