Balochistan’s Minister for Construction and Communications Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran on Tuesday denied keeping a private jail after bullet-riddled bodies of a woman and her two sons were found from a well near his residence in the Barkhan district area last night.
The victims, a woman and two men, were identified by the police as Giran Naz, age 40-45, wife of Khan Muhammad Marri and her two sons Mohammad Nawaz, aged 20-25, and Abdul Qadir, aged 15-20.
A press release issued by the police said the bodies, which were in sacks, were found yesterday (Feb 20) at around 8pm. The station house officer (SHO) of Barkhan Police Station was informed about the corpses in the well. “As soon as the SHO was informed about the incident, he immediately reached the site with his police party,” the statement said.
The bodies were then recovered from the well and transported to Civil Hospital Barkhan. They were identified by Abdul Qayoom Bijrani Marri, whom the police described as an heir. The bodies were handed over to him after the completion of legal requirements, the press release stated.
He said that a video of his wife had surfaced on a website after which his family’s bodies were found in a well in a far-flung area. Khan Muhammad alleged that his family was killed after being tortured.
Dawn.com was able to verify that the woman in the video was indeed Khan Muhammad’s wife — one of the three victims. In the video, Giran can be seen holding the Holy Quran and saying: “I swear by God — this Quran is supreme — Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran has me captive in jail. He is sexually assaulting my daughter every day and has also imprisoned my sons. Someone get us freed.”
A first information report (FIR) has so far not been registered.
The police press release said that on November 16, a police party comprising Barkhan superintendent of police (SP), sub-divisional police officer, deputy superintendent of police, SHO and an Anti-Terrorist Force team raided the Haji Kot house of Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) spokesperson and Provincial Minister for Construction and Communications Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran but no one was found there.
The police statement further said that on January 18, Khan Mohammad Marri had submitted a request to the relevant authorities alleging that his wife and children were kept in captivity in Khetran’s private jail and were being tortured. He had appealed for their immediate recovery.
The press release said the Barkhan SP was given directions for the immediate recovery of Khan Muhammad’s family, adding that he had tried obtaining information about the abductees but to no avail.
The press release elaborated that the bodies of his family were found in sacks in a well in Somiani on Monday. It added that strict action will be taken against the culprits once the victims’ heirs file a case and the perpetrators would be brought to justice.
The police said they were conducting the investigation from every angle.
Khan Muhammad said that the funeral prayers for the deceased were offered and the family was now heading to Quetta with the bodies to protest in front of the chief minister house or high court.
Protesters reached Quetta later in the day with the bodies and staged a sit-in outside the Red Zone while chanting slogans against the minister.
