Inquiry launched into Chechens’ killings

A private witness presents a mobile video of the brutal incident.

QUETTA:

A judicial tribunal of the Balochistan High Court (BHC) on Tuesday began its investigations into the Kharotabad shooting in which five Chechens were killed.

The tribunal comprises Justice Mohammad Hashim Kakar.

In the first sitting, two people including Jamaat-i-Islami Balochistan Vice-President Amanullah Shahdezai and Jamal Tarkai, a photo journalist, registered their names as private witnesses. One of them presented a video made by a mobile phone. Two articles published in newspapers were also presented.

Tribunal officer, BHC additional registrar Mohammad Arshad, said that the tribunal will record statements of witnesses by Monday and urged people who wished to share information to register their names.

The officer also published advertisements in various newspapers in which the court directed people – whether local residents of Kharotabad, any nearby areas or any private individuals – having any information concerning or relevant to the incident to appear before the tribunal. The advertisement said that it was essential to inquire and unearth the facts behind the Kharotabad incident, and therefore, the Balochistan government has appointed a tribunal under Section 5 of the Balochistan Tribunals of Inquiry Ordinance, 1969.

Five Chechens were gunned down on May 17, by personnel of the Frontier Corps (FC) and police near an FC picket on International Highway in the Kharotabad area, a suburb of Quetta, alleging three of those Chechen women and two men were wearing suicide jackets and possessed explosives. An FC official was also killed in this incident.

However, the bomb disposal squad and the post-mortem reports revealed that the suspects were neither wearing suicide jackets, nor possessed any explosive materials at the time of the attack and all of them had died of bullet wounds.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2011.