Domki murder case: Bugtis’ complain of break-ins

Relatives refuse to believe that Jhumar and Janaa were killed over a dispute.

KARACHI:

A day before the Supreme Court’s suo motu hearing for Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti’s granddaughter’s murder case resumed, her relatives complained about being harassed by the police.

At least three members of the Bugti family in Karachi, Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas, claimed that the authorities raided their residences on April 8 in connection with the murders of MPA Mir Bakhtiar Domki’s wife Jhumar, their 13-year-old daughter Janaa and driver. The Clifton police lodged a case on behalf of the State under section 302/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code and section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

“The police have failed to arrest the suspects,” said former senator Shahid Hassan Bugti. “They are carrying out random raids to show the court that they are efficient. They might take someone away and keep piling fake cases on us.”

According to Shahid, uniformed policemen broke into Prof. Aziz Bugti’s apartment in Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Phase II on April 8 when the family was away for Umrah.

Prof. Aziz, who was related to Nawab Akbar and has written extensively on Balochistan, returned from the pilgrimage on Tuesday and was shocked to find the apartment in a mess.

Jhumar’s uncle Jehangir Bugti’s house was raided in Hyderabad. The house of another relative of late Nawab Bugti, Mir Zahid Hassan, was raided in Mirpurkhas.

While talking to The Express Tribune, Prof. Aziz said that his neighbour claimed that the police was searching for Shahid Bugti. For Zahid, the matter was grave; the raid on his house has left him fearing for his son’s safety. “They came to my house to arrest my son,” he said. “They did not have any search warrants or anything.”

The case was being investigated by Crime Investigation Department AIG Ghulam Shabbir Sheikh and being supervised by IG Mushtaq Shah.

A senior police officer, who was also a member of the investigation team, said that they were looking into the case with a possibility of a dispute between the Domkis and Bugtis.

The officer claimed that they were close to solving the case.

A man from the Domki family, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed that the police had not questioned Jhumar’s in-laws and the murders were not linked with a family feud.

On Thursday, the SC asked the police to ensure that members of the Bugti family were not harassed.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 13^th, 2012.