Attack on IBA registrar: PM assured me of impartial inquiry, says Mahar

No arrests have been made so far, no response from Supreme and High Courts: IBA registrar.

KARACHI: Terming accusations against him political victimisation, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid MPA Sheharyar Mahar said he has approached Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani who has assured him that the matter will be resolved by conducting an impartial inquiry.

Maharis being accused of ordering an attack on the registrar of Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Sukkur, Zahid Hussain Khand. The registrar was shot on December 8 when he was on his way to the IBA campus.

Mahar, in his defence, said Khand was playing in the hands of IBA, Sukkur, director Nisar Siddiqui who is “incompetent and toes the line of Khursheed Shah”, the federal minister for labour and manpower.

“The chief minister had decided to sack him from the post of director as he was inept, but Khursheed Shah came forward and rescued him.”

No institute can run efficiently with the appointment of incompetent people who are just brought in to appease the people in power, he added.

Mahar further said that his name was not nominated in the case, but the IBA director started the campaign against him just to defame him. “I have claimed one billion rupee defamation charges against the IBA administration and have filed a privilege motion in the Sindh Assembly because they have breached the privilege of a member of the august house,” he maintained.

Inquiry ordered

Meanwhile, the Sukkur DIG ordered the arrest of the culprits involved in the attack within two days on Tuesdays - the ultimatum lapses today (on Thursday).

IBA registrar Zahid Hussain Khand was attacked and injured by three armed men  near his residence situated in Akhuwat Nagar at Airport Road.

Khand told The Express Tribune that he had successfully undergone surgery as his left leg and right hand’s finger was fractured. “But I still can’t walk without the support of a walker,” he added.

The registrar said he had lodged an FIR on the day of the attack against three people including Ishaq Mahar, who is the manager of MPA Sheharyar Mahar, and two other unidentified men. But so far no arrest has been made.

According to him, even now Sheharyar Mahar’s men are indirectly threatening him. They say that if he continues pursuing the case against “the sardar”, then he would have to face dire consequences, Khand said. “As a registrar of IBA, it is my duty to safeguard the interests of the institute.”

IBA has provided him with security guards to avert any untoward incident.

He had also written an appeal to the Supreme Court Chief Justice and the Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court on December 13, requesting them to take a suo motu notice of the incident and order the police to arrest the culprits and provide protection to him. Even after a lapse of 20 days, he has not received any response from the apex court or the high court.

Sukkur DIG Zafar Abbas Bukhari and the DPO Sukkur were not available for comment.

Background of the row

According to the IBA officials, Sheharyar Mahar, who is Sardar Ghous Bux Mahar’s younger son, had purchased land in Deh Arain near the IBA campus from al Shifa Trust for a housing scheme. Approximately 5.5 acres of IBA land meant for the construction of a girls’ hostel was adjacent to Shaheryar Mahar’s land, they said.

Eight or nine months ago, about 150 of his men forcibly occupied the land belonging to the institute after beating up the guards and other IBA employees, officials claim. After this incident, Khand lodged an FIR with the area police against Mahar and his men.

On December 6, Khand appeared before the court of the second additional sessions judge and recorded his statement against Sheharyar Mahar in the land scam. According to the registrar, his statement angered Mahar and his men attacked him on December 8.

At 8:15 am, a Honda Civic swerved in on the Airport Road, near the campus. “There were three men in the car. Two of them came out and one shot me while I was in my car,” Khand had told The Express Tribune.

He was driving, while his nine-year-old daughter was sitting on the passenger seat. His two sons, 14 and 12 years old, were sitting in the back seat. “I started crying in pain [after the first gunshot] and got out of the car,” he said. “The man shot me again, saying ‘how dare you drag our sardar to court’.” One of their neighbours took Khand to the hospital. Later, he was shifted to the Aga Khan University Hospital in Karachi.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2011.