HYDERABAD - The Sindh Bar Council’s Member senior advocate Sajjad Ahmed Chandio has urged the Sindh High Court’s Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M. Shaikh to take notice of the alleged fake encounters being carried out by the police of Dadu district.
In a letter addressed to the Chief Justice of SHC, the advocate said he had received many complaints from the lawyers of Dadu that the local police were killing and injuring men who had not been proven as guilty of the crimes in the staged encounters.
He requested the justice to direct DIG Hyderabad Peer Muhammad Shah to submit a thorough report of all the encounters that had taken place since the posting of SSP Irfan Samo. He further urged the court to also call a report about similar encounters which were conducted on a regular basis in Sukkur district when Samo was posted as SSP there.
“Such reports will assess your lordship in assessing the severity of the situation,” Chandio stated. He pointed out that a Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate posted in Mehar taluka of Dadu district had been taking strict notice of such encounters. He claimed that the police, feudal lords and influential politicians were reportedly not happy with the judge protecting fundamental rights of the citizens.
The advocate complained that in Sindh the police was often seen eager to register FIRs against the innocent people and when the common people approach the police to lodge the FIRs they face reluctance.
He referred to a recent incident of a protest by the rain and flood affected people who all were booked in an FIR for raising their voice against the provincial government’s poor relief response.
“The citizens of Sindh can’t be left at the mercy of the ruling elite or a police force that unfortunately lacks independence and in most instances serves the elite like a private force,” he said.
He underscored that the situation warrants a proactive role of the judiciary to restore trust of the people on the law.