Barkhan tragedy: Senate body voices anger against Balochistan police for remaining indifferent to excesses

ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary body, on Monday, expressed anger over Balochistan police for showing extreme laxity in dealing with the matter of keeping members of a family in a private jail at Barkhan even though it was raised in the senate and not inserting section 7ATA of the Anti-Terrorism Act in the case registered in the connection with the killing of three members of the same family.

The Senate Standing Committee on Interior, which met with Senator Mohsin Aziz in the chair, questioned why the Balochistan police did not take action after Senator Mushtaq Ahmed raised the matter regarding keeping three family members of Khan Muhammad Marri in a private jail for four years in the Senate.

“Were police waiting for the dead bodies,” Aziz asked.

He said that the police took action after the video regarding the matter went viral on social media.

It is pertinent to be mentioned here that the mutilated dead bodies of 40-year-old wife Granaz, of Marri and his sons, Muhammad Anwar (22) and Abdul Qadir (15) were recovered from a deep well.

The senate body expressed annoyance for not handcuffing provincial Minister Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran who was arrested on suspicion of the killing of the three people and not nominating him in the first information report (FIR) registered in connection with the incident.

The Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Balochistan police informed the meeting that Khetran was not handcuffed as despite the police’s repeated requests the accused has yet not been denotified as provincial minister.

On this, Senator Ahmed said: “Oh, we are living in a jungle as a man who is accused of killing three people but the police are unable to handcuff him as he is the minister.” Senator Saifullah Abro said why the police did not cover the face of a person who is accused of killing three persons with cloth and why he was allowed to make a victory sign after his arrest.

He said while addressing DIG Balochistan police that learn from Islamabad police as they covered the face of PTI leaders with a black cloth after their arrest.

He demanded that the chief secretary and the IGP Balochistan be summoned to the committee on the matter of three people killed in the Barkhan tragedy.

The committee directed the inspector general of police (IGP) Balochistan and the secretary Home Department to appear in person and submit a detailed report regarding the incident of killing and recovery of dead bodies of three members of the family of Khan Muhammad Marri who have allegedly been detained as a hostage in the private prison of a provincial minister of Balochistan where still some members of the said family are kept as a hostage.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023