The members of the inquiry committee formed to investigate Dr Shahnawaz Kunbhar’s death is of the unanimous opinion that the Mirpurkhas police had killed him in a staged encounter and failed to give it legal cover.
They said that based on all the information already available as well as that was collected by the committee from different sources, they found that the Umerkot police had arrested Dr Kunbhar in Karachi and handed him over to the Mirpurkhas police the same day.
They lamented that this illegal police action brought a very bad name to the Sindh police. They recommended that the victim’s family record their statements and lodge a murder FIR. They also recommended strict departmental action against all the officers involved.
According to the committee’s findings, on September 17 the Umerkot police received reports about allegedly blasphemous social media activities of Dr Kunbhar, a resident of the Janhero village and a senior medical officer (BS-18) at the Umerkot District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ).
As the news about the alleged blasphemy spread, a large number of people gathered in the Umerkot city to protest and riot. The main target of their aggression was the police because the alleged suspect was at large.
The mob also set ablaze a police van and damaged other police vehicles. An FIR was later lodged against the doctor on the complaint of cleric Sabir Ali at the Umerkot Taluka police station, while another FIR was lodged against the rioters at the Umerkot City police station.
The inquiry report states that pressure from clerics and the public was mounting on the police and an ultimatum of 48 hours had been given for arresting Dr Kunbhar.
On the night of September 17 the Umerkot SSP received information that the doctor had been traced through his mobile phone to be in the Matiari district, following which the officer tasked his reader, SI Abdul Sattar, to arrest the man.
Led by SI Sattar, an Umerkot police team comprising PCs Nawab Ali Samejo, Amanullah, Nadeem Khoso, Shah Muhammad, Irfan Shahani, Mashuq Ali and Atta Hussain (driver) left in the SSP’s escort van and a private car (a Cultus with registration No. BFK-404).
Meanwhile, the mobile phone locator team of the Shaheed Benazirabad (SBA) Range was asked to assist the Umerkot police team. At 4:15am on September 18 SI Sattar reached Hyderabad and contacted the locator team, who joined them.
The doctor’s mobile phone was switched off, so no action was taken. Later, they received information that the location of his phone was in Karachi. At 7:30am SI Sattar and the locator team proceeded to Karachi on the directions of the Umerkot SSP.
They first reached the Garden area in Karachi and then the Saddar locality to trace the alleged suspect and a B-party number who was in contact with the doctor, but both their phones were switched off.
At 11am SI Sattar received information about another mobile number of the doctor in the Tariq Road area, so they proceeded there with the locator team, but again the phone was switched off, so they returned to Lyari’s Baghdadi police station.
Around 2pm a video clip of Dr Kunbhar surfaced on social media in which he claimed to be staying at a hotel. SI Sattar then checked the police app Hotel Eye to check the alleged suspect’s status.
The app showed multiple entries going back many months of various hotels of Lyari where the doctor had stayed previously. Most of these hotels were around the Baghdadi police station.
There was no current entry in Hotel Eye, so the SI went to the nearby Gul Balochistan hotel, where Dr Kunbhar had stayed in February.
The hotel management recognised the doctor’s picture and confirmed his previous visits. SI Sattar showed the management the video clip to ascertain the hotel in it.
An employee, Sanaullah Jamali, recognised the hotel as Pak-Qatar and an employee visible in the video. The police team went to the Pak-Qatar hotel, which was in the same neighbourhood, entering the establishment at 3:30pm.
They started searching for him one room at a time. When SI Sattar reached room No. 304, Dr Kunbhar opened it. The officer recognised him and introduced himself.
The alleged suspect had checked in at the hotel at 1:20pm that day. The SI talked to Dr Kunbhar and persuaded him to accompany the police, assuring him of secured transport to Umerkot.
At 4:25pm the doctor was taken into police custody by SI Sattar with the team of the Umerkot police. They had covered the man’s face with a cloth.
SI Sattar informed the Umerkot SSP about the detention. The senior officer ordered the SI to proceed back to Umerkot without any delay and without informing the Baghdadi police station.
The Umerkot police team immediately left the area, and informed the locator team to go back to their district SBA because there was no further need of them. SI Sattar was in constant contact with the Umerkot SSP.
At 7:45pm, when they were near Hyderabad, SI Sattar was directed by the Umerkot SSP to hand over the doctor’s custody to the Mirpurkhas police because the situation in Umerkot was tense.
The SSP directed the SI to stay at the Jhamrao checkpoint to hand over the alleged suspect to the Mirpurkhas police. At 9:26pm the Umerkot police stopped near the checkpoint.
A white police Vigo arrived to taken the doctor’s custody, then left. The Umerkot police team also left, took a tea break at the Madina Hotel on the Hyderabad-Mirpurkhas highway, then left for Umerkot.
The Mirpurkhas Toll Plaza cameras show the Mirpurkhas SSP’s official white Vigo (No. SPF-851) going out at 9:19pm and returning at 9:30pm. The CCTV cameras do not show any other vehicle with such a description crossing that road in that particular time period.
At 10:50pm the Mirpurkhas CIA police carrying the doctor left Mirpurkhas in a van (No. SPF-659) and at 12:18am on September 19 reached the Sabzal stop, in the jurisdiction of the Sindhri police station, where the SHO, Inspector Niaz Khoso, along with his staff, in police vehicle (No. SPB-671) joined them.
At around 12:20am Dr Kunbhar was killed in a staged police encounter in the jurisdiction of the Sindhri police station, Mirpurkhas. Police found a mobile phone, a CNIC and Rs1,000 on the doctor.
At 1:20am the deceased was shifted to the DHQ Civil Hospital Mirpurkhas by the Mirpurkhas CIA van. At 4:30am FIRs were registered at the Sindhri police station by the then SHO.
After the completion of the post-mortem examination, the body was taken in an ambulance to Umerkot for the funeral, escorted by the Mirpurkhas CIA police and the Umerkot police.
When the body reached Janhero, an angry prevented the ambulance from entering. The body was then shifted into a private car and taken to a secluded land of the Kunbhar family.
Another mob gathered there and snatched the body in the presence of the police and the family. The mob set the body on fire. The family and the police took the half burnt body and shifted it to another remote place, where the burial took place.
A large number of people gathered at the Mirpurkhas DIG and SSP’s office to celebrate Dr Kunbhar’s death. The police officers were hailed as heroes and praised for their action.
Videos circulating on social media showed the police officers accepting compliments. This reaction caused an outrage and condemnation by liberal, secular and human rights activists on electronic and social media.
Subsequently, the Sindh government ordered an inquiry committee to be formed. Meanwhile, the Mirpurkhas DIG and SSP, and other police officers concerned were suspended.
On Thursday Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar held a press conference at the Directorate of Social Media’s office, where he said the Mirpurkhas DIG was removed from his post, and replaced by Zubair Dreshak. He said the Umerkot SSP and the Mirpurkhas SSP had also been removed from their positions.
Lanjar said that a comprehensive 31-page report had been prepared after investigating all the aspects of the tragedy. “Based on the report, we’re ordering FIRs to be registered against the officers involved,” he added.
“If the victim’s family doesn’t file a case, the Sindh government will pursue it. No matter how influential or senior an officer is, we’ll hold everybody accountable.”
The minister made the assurance that legal action is being taken against the officers involved in the incident. He hoped that investigations into Dr Kunbhar’s social media posts would reveal more facts.