Settling a dispute: 18 years later, jirga fines policemen for killing villager

SUKKUR:

Two policemen were fined Rs2.4 million by a jirga for killing a villager in Gublo, a katcha area in the Kashmore-Kandhkot district, nearly 18 years ago.

According to sources, to resolve the dispute was between the Buriro and Bhangwar tribesmen, a jirga was held near Buxapur, Kandhkot, on Monday. Pakistan Peoples Party MPA Dr Sohrab Sarki was asked to settle the matter. Sardar Ahmed Ali Bhangwar and Sardar Saddam Hussain Buriro were also present at the jirga.

After recording witness statements and hearing what both the parties had to say, the jirga found two policemen, Jan Muhammad Buriro and Saleem Buriro, guilty of killing a villager and injuring four others. It was decided that they would be fined Rs2.4 million in total.

The verdict was accepted by both the parties and the policemen paid Rs200,000 on the spot and promised to pay the remaining amount in three equal installments.

It was decided that the men would have to pay Rs800,000 for the murder and Rs400,000 for those injured.

The incident

Sources claim that 18 years ago, the police raided a katcha area near Gublo where the villagers were playing kodi kodi, a game similar to kabadi. After an argument with the villagers, the police opened fire at them. Manzoor Bhangwar died on the spot while four others were injured.

Manzoor’s death caused problems in the area between the police and Bhangwar tribesmen. To defuse the tension, the then SHO Gublo Arbab Soomro paid fine to the Bhangwar tribesmen to save himself. But the Bhangwar tribesmen kept pressurising the policemen to resolve the matter through a jirga.

SSP Kashmore Younis Chandio took notice of the jirga and has ordered DSP Kandhkot to look into the matter and submit report within 48 hours. SSP Kashmore Younis Chandio and MPA Sarki were not available for comments.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 14^th, 2014.