Surprise visit to Bhutto sardar helps settle accidental killing by Jeho woman

Sardar Himmat Ali Kamariyo’s request for pardon granted, Bhutto sardar offers to pay blood money.

SUKKUR: Tensions between the Bhuttos and Jehos were defused this weekend when Sardar Himmat Ali Kamariyo along with some other influential men paid a surprise visit to Naudero and went to the residence of Sardar Aamir Bhutto. For his part, the Bhutto sardar received the guests with respect and pardoned the manager of the Bhutto estate, Riaz Phulpoto, who was embroiled in the case of the killing of a Bhutto guard.  

Phulpoto’s second wife Zahida Jeho had killed Mureed Bhutto by mistake when she picked up a gun during a scuffle with her husband six months ago. Phulpoto lodged an FIR against her at the Naudero police station and she was arrested and challaned in court. The Bhutto elders pressured Riaz Phulpoto, however, to resolve the matter to which he had replied that he had lodged a case against her and divorced her.

But when Zahida was shifted to a jail in Larkana, Sardar Kamariyo, who is the chief of many clans including the Jehos, expressed his extreme displeasure over the matter and asked Phulpoto to bail her out.

This angered the Bhuttos.

But the tempers appear to have cooled with Sunday’s surprise visit. Sardar Aamir Bhutto conceded to Sardar Kamariyo’s request and pardoned Phulpoto. He also refused to take blood money for the Bhutto guard, saying that he would pay it to the family.

Sardar Kamariyo told The Express Tribune on Sunday this had been the only way to defuse the tension between the two communities. He appreciated the generosity of Sardar Aamir Bhutto and hoped that the case would be withdrawn soon.

While Sardar Aamir Bhutto was not immediately available for comment, his secretary Amanullah Bhutto told this newspaper that the matter had been resolved amicably. When asked whether it was true that Benazir Bhutto’s elder sister Sanam had played a vital role in this matter, he replied that she had indeed by asking Sardar Aamir Bhutto to resolve the issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2011.