Lawyer’s murder: Intelligence officers told to look into case

Former SHCBA vice chairman was gunned down on April 26 in Nawabshah.

KARACHI:

The court has directed the director-general of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), AD Khawaja, to investigate the murder of the former vice chairman of Sindh Bar Council, Ali Muhammad Dahri.

On Wednesday, a division bench of the Sindh High Court, comprising Chief Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Salman Hamid, told the IB chief to confirm the receipt of this order within 15 days. The judges were hearing a constitutional petition based on the resolution passed by Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) to find the lawyer’s target killers.

The association condemned Dahri’s murder in Nawabshah on April 26, when he was shot dead and his granddaughter was injured. The resolution demanded the government arrest the culprits and keep the SHCBA informed of the developments.

The SHCBA requested Alam to take up the issue of target killings, especially in Karachi, and direct the law-enforcement agencies to improve the law and order situation. On April 29, Alam converted the resolution into a constitutional petition and issued notices to the Sindh IGP, Sindh Rangers DG, the secretaries of the federal interior and provincial home ministries, Sindh attorney and prosecutor generals, SHCBA president and general secretary, and Sindh Bar Council vice chairman to appear on May 18.

On Wednesday, Shahbaz Ali Dahri, the victim’s son, moved a miscellaneous application, requesting for permission to join the case. His lawyer, Advocate Haleem Siddiqui, said that the applicant was willing to join the proceedings and requested the appointment of an impartial senior police officer to investigate his father’s murder. Provincial Law Officer Haleema Khan had no objections.

In its order, the bench wrote: “On May 5, 2011, when this matter was taken up, DSP Anwar Alam Subhani (Legal) was in attendance and stated that the investigation is in the offing and a report will be filed within 10 days, yet no report has come forward. The additional attorney general is not aware of any such report. Haleem Siddiqui appearing for the Sindh High Court Bar Association and Bhajandas for petitioner, Shahbaz Ali Dahri, whose application has been granted today, said that the family is under pressure to nominate a man, who is not involved in the crime, in order to shield some influential persons, who are actually involved in this gruesome murder.”

The next hearing will be held in the second week of June.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2011.