Enforced disappearances?: SHC seeks report on citizen’s killing by Rangers

Petitioner claims her sons and grandsons were picked up from their homes.

KARACHI:

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed the Rangers and Sindh police authorities to submit reports on the killing of a men allegedly by Ranger’s personnel.

The bench, headed by the Chief Justice Mushir Alam, was hearing missing persons’ cases on Friday. One petition had been filed by Jannat Bibi, who cited the inspector general of police, director-general of Pakistan Rangers, the federal and provincial home secretaries among others as respondents. She accused Rangers’ personnel of helping the police detain her two sons, Saudullah Jan and Hastam Khan, along with her grandsons, Safirullah, Naseebullah, Asadullah and Shahirullah, from their houses in Lalabad, Bin Qasim Town, on October 28, last year.

During the hearing, the court was informed that Jan Muhammad was also killed in Rangers’ firing. “Although the victim’s brother, Zar Muhammad Barki, lodged an FIR No. 341/2012, accusing the Rangers of killing his brother, he took back his statement through an affidavit,” a police official told the judges.

Noticing that the stories did not match, the bench directed Major Ashfaq of Pakistan Rangers to submit a report. Justice Alam also directed additional inspector general of police, legal, Ali Sher Jakhrani, to obtain information from his subordinate officials and submit a report by March 16. Meanwhile, notices were also issued to the advocate general and the deputy attorney general to collect information on the six missing persons from the authorities and submit it by the next date.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2^nd, 2013.