Lyari operation: No fake cases against Amn Committee leaders, say police

SHOs of Chakiwara, Kharadar and Mithadar police stations file comments in court.

KARACHI:

As alleged, no fake cases have been registered against the leadership of the outlawed People’s Amn Committee to force them to rejoin the Pakistan People’s Party.

This was what police had to tell the Sindh High Court on Saturday about the nomination of Uzair Jan Baloch, Zafar Baloch and Habib Jan Baloch in cases relating to attempted murder, robbery and keeping illegal weapons. The SHOs of Chakiwara, Kharadar and Mithadar police stations filed their comments in court.

The petitioners, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) activists Noshaba and Salma, had submitted that 43 people were killed and 99 were injured while property worth millions of rupees were damaged in a police operation launched in Lyari on April 27.

The police registered criminal cases against the committee leadership at Kalakot, Chakiwara, Kalri, Baghdadi, Napier, Kharadar, Mithadar and Crime Investigation Department police stations without any evidence against the leaders, stated the plaintiffs, who also live in Lyari.

The Sindh home department placed rewards for the arrests of dissenting PPP activists and the Amn Committee’s leaders to pressure them into rejoining the party, they alleged.

The appellants appealed to the court to cancel all FIRs against the committee leadership and suspend the home department’s notification for head money. They also asked the court to direct the provincial government to compensate the families of the victims of the operation.

The petitioners also called for a judicial inquiry of the matter by a high court judge.

On Saturday, after the police officers filed their comments, denying all allegations, the petitioners’ lawyer requested the court to grant him time to go through the comments and file a rejoinder.

Granting his request, the division bench headed by Justice Sajjad Ali Shah put off the hearing to a date to be fixed later.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 7^th, 2012.