‘Cow thief’ tortured, killed and then burnt
Chattha family men accused of abducting Arif six days ago, dumping his body after burning him.
HAFIZABAD:
The body of a man, Arif, abducted six days ago – allegedly by men who had accused him of stealing their cow – was found in a field in a nearby village on Wednesday night.
The body bore torture marks and had also been burnt.
Arif was a resident of Pindi Baware village. His body was located, according to his family, after men from Chattha family – who the family accuse of kidnapping and murdering Arif – called and told them.
Arif’s sister, Kausar, told The Express Tribune that he had been abducted on November 11 from the fields, by Mustafa Chattha and his men, who accused him of stealing their cow. She said she had gone to Chattha’s house in adjoining Kot Pannah village and requested him to release her brother “because he was innocent”.
“They refused to listen to me. He (Mustafa Chattha) threatened to kill Arif if the stolen cow was not returned to him. I told him my brother had not stolen any cow,” she said. “We are too poor, otherwise, I would have just purchased one and given it to get my brother released,” she said.
Kausar said they had found Arif’s body after the Chattha family called her cell phone and told her where they could find his body.
Talking to The Tribune, Ahsan Chattha, a cousin of Mustafa Chattha, rejected that Arif was killed by men from his family. He, however, insisted that Arif had stolen their cow.
He said the man was caught and grilled over the whereabouts of the cow.
He rejected that Arif was tortured and said that he was released shortly after being ‘picked up’. “We kept him at our dera for a few hours. He was released after insisted he had not stolen the cow,” he said.
An FIR nominating Mustafa Chattha, Murtaza Chattha, Mukhtar Chattha, Zahid, Zafar and Saif has been registered in Saddar police station.
SHO Zafar Gondal said raids were underway to arrest the suspects.
He said none of those nominated in the FIR was home during a raid at Chattha family’s house in Kot Pannah village.
He said a post mortem examination had been conducted at Hafizabad district headquarters (DHQ) hospital and that the report would be available by Friday (today).
Published in The Express Tribune, November 18th, 2011.
The body of a man, Arif, abducted six days ago – allegedly by men who had accused him of stealing their cow – was found in a field in a nearby village on Wednesday night.
The body bore torture marks and had also been burnt.
Arif was a resident of Pindi Baware village. His body was located, according to his family, after men from Chattha family – who the family accuse of kidnapping and murdering Arif – called and told them.
Arif’s sister, Kausar, told The Express Tribune that he had been abducted on November 11 from the fields, by Mustafa Chattha and his men, who accused him of stealing their cow. She said she had gone to Chattha’s house in adjoining Kot Pannah village and requested him to release her brother “because he was innocent”.
“They refused to listen to me. He (Mustafa Chattha) threatened to kill Arif if the stolen cow was not returned to him. I told him my brother had not stolen any cow,” she said. “We are too poor, otherwise, I would have just purchased one and given it to get my brother released,” she said.
Kausar said they had found Arif’s body after the Chattha family called her cell phone and told her where they could find his body.
Talking to The Tribune, Ahsan Chattha, a cousin of Mustafa Chattha, rejected that Arif was killed by men from his family. He, however, insisted that Arif had stolen their cow.
He said the man was caught and grilled over the whereabouts of the cow.
He rejected that Arif was tortured and said that he was released shortly after being ‘picked up’. “We kept him at our dera for a few hours. He was released after insisted he had not stolen the cow,” he said.
An FIR nominating Mustafa Chattha, Murtaza Chattha, Mukhtar Chattha, Zahid, Zafar and Saif has been registered in Saddar police station.
SHO Zafar Gondal said raids were underway to arrest the suspects.
He said none of those nominated in the FIR was home during a raid at Chattha family’s house in Kot Pannah village.
He said a post mortem examination had been conducted at Hafizabad district headquarters (DHQ) hospital and that the report would be available by Friday (today).
Published in The Express Tribune, November 18th, 2011.