SHC CJ seeks report on Machhar Colony lynching incident from IGP

Sindh High Court Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh on Monday took notice of the lynching of two employees of a private telecom company in Machhar Colony and directed the provincial police chief, the deputy inspector general (South) and the SSP investigation to submit a progress report on the incident.Engineer Aiman Javed and driver Muhammad Ishaq were tortured to death by a mob in Machhar Colony situated in the Keamari district on October 27, assuming them to be kidnappers of children.

According to the police, staffers of the telecom company were on a visit to the area to check the frequency of signals when a mob attacked them with stones and bricks, suspecting that they were there to kidnap children.

The mob killed them and set on fire their office vehicle. Taking notice of the incident, the SHC chief justice directed Sindh’s inspector general of police, the DIG South and the SSP investigation to submit by today a report of progress in the ongoing probe into the incident.

Suspects remanded

The administrative judge of anti-terrorism courts remanded in police custody four suspects held in connection with the lynching incident. The police produced the suspects – Farooq, Rabiul Islam, Faisal and Abdul Ghafoor – before the administrative judge and requested their 14-day physical remand.

The investigating officer stated that they were required to be interrogated about their suspected role in the lynching and for the identification of others who were involved in the horrific incident. The judge, however, handed over the suspects’ custody to the police until November 8 with a direction to produce them on the next date along with a progress report.

An FIR was lodged under sections 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 302 (intentional murder), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees), and 435 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to cause damage) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) read with Section 7 (punishment for terrorism) of the Anti-Terrorism Act against 200-250 persons at the Docks police station.

Compensation fixed

Briefing the Sindh cabinet meeting on the Machhar Colony mob lynching, provincial police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon said Aimen Javed from Thatta and Ishaq Maher from Naushehroferoze were lynched by a mob in Machhar Colony. The victims had been in the area to check the signals of the local mobile phone tower, but the residents suspected them to be kidnappers of children and killed them.

The advisory group was told that 15 people identified through video clips of the incident have been arrested, while an investigation into the incident has been launched and the culprits will be brought to book.

Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that such incidents cannot be ignored, and that the killers have to face the law. He said that mob lynchings shake the public’s confidence in the police, so the laws need to be revisited to discourage such incidents, while the police need to gain people’s trust.

The cabinet approved compensation of Rs5 million each for the Machhar Colony mob lynching victims’ families, and formed a cabinet committee comprising Imtiaz Shaikh, Murtaza Wahab, Sadiq Memon, the police chief and the home secretary to discuss the issue and make recommendations to avoid such tragedies in future.

The committee will also assess the need to create a mob management police force to handle such cases. The force will be given relevant training and equipped with the required equipment and weapons.

Fact-finding body

Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Human Rights Surendar Valasai has formed a fact-finding Committee headed by Ayub Khosa, who is a member of the Sindh Human Rights Commission, to probe into the lynching incident.

Three other members of the Provincial Human Rights Vigilance Committee are Kashif Bajeer, Syed Mahmood Alam Shah Advocate, and Shakira Siddiqui Advocate. A notification in this regard was issued by Secretary Human Rights Department Noreen Bashir on Monday.

The committee will inquire into the reasons behind the unfortunate incident of mob lynching, identify the factors behind the surge of such incidents and recommend remedial measures to the government to curb the trend.

No Nadra record

The incident took a turn after most of the suspects involved in brutal killings were found to have had no Nadra record. “Most of the suspects arrested in connection with the brutal killings of the two employees of the cellular company are living in the country without any Nadra record,” says Docks SHO Pervaiz Ali Solangi. “The data in Nadra of most of the suspects arrested is not available.” The officer said around one dozen suspects who are in custody do not even have CNICs. The police investigators are now also considering putting provisions of the Foreigners Act in the case if needed as the suspects are Bengalis and those who were born in Pakistan but their parents had no Nadra cards. The officer said a total 15 suspects had been arrested while 43 detainees are being questioned.

JI slams incident

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi chief Engr Hafiz Naeemur Rehman strongly condemned the lynching of two innocent citizens in Karachi’s Macchar Colony. He expressed solidarity with the affected families and demanded of the government to arrest those responsible for the brutal murders and bring them to justice by giving them an exemplary punishment.

The JI leader said the condemnable incident also depicted that masses in the city had lost trust in criminal justice procedure, the legal system and state institutions. Rehman further said the situation was very alarming and the law enforcement agencies and relevant departments needed to take notice of the situation and act accordingly in order to avoid such gruesome incidents in the future.