Turbat killings: Investigators submit findings

Baloch Liberation Front claimed responsibility for the gruesome attack

QUETTA: Joint Investigation Team (JIT) tasked to investigate the killings of 20 labourers in Turbat has submitted its findings report to Inspector General (IG) Police Balochistan on Friday.

District Police Officer (DPO) Kech Imran Qureshi told The Express Tribune that he has submitted a detailed report on the targeted killings of labourers to the Inspector General Police Hemlish Khan. “We completed the report in three weeks and submitted it to IG Police,” Head of JIT DPO Imran Qureshi said. Qureshi headed the committee tasked to investigate the killings

At least 20 labourers, who had come from Sadiqabad and Tharparkar, were gunned down and three others sustained injuries after a group of armed men attacked their camp in Gogdhan area, about seven kilometers off Turbat city in Kech district, in the early hours on April 11.

The banned Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) had claimed responsibility for the gruesome attack. The Kech police registered a case against the head of BLF Dr Allah Nazar and his spokesman on April 12. When approached, a Balochistan Police spokesman refused to comment but confirmed that a report about JIT has been submitted to the IG Police.

According to sources, JIT said that the main culprit behind the killing of the labourers was the banned organization BLF. The report cited negligence of the Balochistan Levies personnel which led to the incident.

According to people familiar with the document, Regional Police Officer (RPO) Mekran Muhazim Jaa has submitted his department’s report regarding the levies personnel to Chief minister Balochistan Dr Abdul Malik Baloch.

RPO report stated that eight personnel of Balochistan Levies Force who were deputed for the security were not adequately trained. This was cited as a main reason behind the incident.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 9^th, 2015.