Relative sees revenge plot in inmate’s slaying

HYDERABAD:

A relative of the slain under-trial inmate who died in the violence which erupted in Hyderabad Central Jail on Friday suspects that Sajid Khaskheli might have been killed in revenge. Sajid was in jail for the murder of Abdul Wahid Thebo, who is a relative of the Jails IG Ghulam Qadir Thebo.

According to the relative, Mohammad Hayat Khaskheli, the murder took place during a roadside robbery in which four young men were involved. However the FIR was registered against five men - one from Brohi and Jamali clans each, two men from Lund clan and Sajid from the Khaskeli clan. But Hayat claims that Sajid was not involved in the robbery and was ‘just a grade-eight student’. Hayat said that after the murder, representatives of the Khaskheli tribe had gone to the Thebo elders and requested them to remove Sajid’s name from the FIR.

Sajid was laid to rest on Saturday in Soomar Khaskheli village in Tando Allahyar. He spent around 1.5 years in jail.“We will register an FIR against police after the soyem,” said Hayat. “If we are not able to do that we will go to court.”

Meanwhile, the prison police were busy in shifting around 200 allegedly riotous inmates to other jails. Prison police have lodged an FIR against 50 prisoners at Baldia police station on the complaint of the acting jail superintendent, Gul Muhammad Shaikh. The inmates were booked for attempted murder and criminal assault charges. However, they could not obtain a remand because Judge Muhammad Javed Alam of the Anti-Terrorism Court refused since the prisoners were not presented in court.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15^th, 2012.