Kharotabad killings: Police chief forms body to implement tribunal suggestions

QUETTA:

The Balochistan police chief constituted a committee on Friday to ensure the implementation of recommendations made by a judicial tribunal tasked to investigate the Kharotabad incident, in which five unarmed foreigners were shot dead by security forces.

The Balochistan home department had sent the recommendations of the judicial tribunal to the police and the Frontier Corps (FC) for taking departmental action against officials held responsible for the killings.

Inspector General (IG) Balochistan Police Rao Mohammad Amin Hashim constituted the committee under the chairmanship of Commandant Balochistan Constabulary Bashir Memon, comprising deputy IG special branch Rehmatullah Niazi and deputy IG investigation Mian Maqbool. The committee will submit its report to IG Balochistan in three days.

The tribunal, in its 88-page long report, held four officials of the police and FC responsible for the killings of the foreigners.

The report said that former capital city police officer Quetta Dawood Junejo and FC Lt-colonel Faisal Shehzad, being the highest ranking officer and commander of police present at the spot, ‘displayed an absolute lack of professional competence, initiative and foresight that would be expected from them.’

Junejo “showed a lack of courage in the planning and ability to organise and act in a befitting manner, despite ample time at his disposal,” the report said.

Meanwhile, Lt Colonel Shehzad “willfully resorted to massacre, instead of capturing the foreigners alive, thereby showing a culpable lack of courage, planning ability and determination to properly organise and handle the situation,” it added.

Station house officer Kharotabad Fazlur Rehman and assistant sub-inspector Raza Khan of the airport police station were also declared responsible for the incident.

While the tribunal in its final report concluded that all five foreigners were “trained terrorists” and had “active linkages” with banned terrorist organisations operating in Pakistan, it expressed strong resentment by saying that they were unarmed and could have been caught alive, which would have helped law enforcement agencies unearth their entire network.

According to secretary home and tribal affairs Balochistan Zafar Baloch, the report had been sent to concerned departments.

“Departmental action would be taken against those officials held responsible for the incident in the tribunal report,” Baloch said.

The tribunal also observed that some police officials not only resorted to planting fake witnesses, they also maltreated two of the actual witnesses, Jamal Tarakey and Dr Syed Baqir Shah, using false allegations.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 9^th, 2011.