Kharotbabad tribunal: Police, FC responsible for killings, say sources

Sources say report calls for action against CCPO and Lieutenant Colonel FC.

QUETTA: The Kharotabad tribunal has held police and Frontier Corps (FC) responsible for the killing of five foreigners in Quetta, an official source with access to the tribunal report said on Thursday.

The report says Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Dawood Junejo and the Lieutenant Colonel of FC had mishandled the situation and recommends that action be taken against them. It also states that Station House Officer (SHO) Kharotabad Fazal Rehman and Assistatant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Raza Khan are also responsible for the incident and calls for strict action against them.

The tribunal also said that even though the foreigners had entered Pakistan illegally, there was no reason to kill them.

The tribunal also recommended that bomb disposal equipment be made available at all police stations.

The chief minister of Balochistan had earlier sent the judicial report to the Balochistan chief secretary and asked him that recommendations be implemented in letter and spirit. He has also directed that the report be made public so that the people of Balochistan are aware of not only the details of the incident but also the findings of the tribunal.

Five foreigners, including three women, were gunned down by Frontier Corps and police personnel on May 17 in Kharotabad, a suburb of Quetta. While security forces officials claimed that those killed were suicide bombers, the police surgeon who conducted autopsies found no indication that the foreigners, four Russians and one Tajik, carried explosives.

The incident was caught on tape by a journalist and, once aired, the video caused public outrage prompting the Balochistan government to form a judicial tribunal to probe the incident. Over a month-long hearing, the tribunal recorded the statements of 28 witnesses and submitted its report, comprising over 80 pages, to the government on Tuesday.