DAWN
the Internet Edition

Parents of Muttahida man among 5 kin injured

By Our Correspondent

HYDERABAD, April 12: Five family members of a unit incharge of Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Aneesur Rehman, including his aged parents, were injured when the police used brute force in a raid in Jinnah Colony, Latifabad, last night. Except for Aneesur Rehman, who has been removed to some unknown place for fear of arrest, the injured were admitted to Shah Bhitai Hospital, Latifabad.

According to eyewitness accounts, over half a dozen policemen in plain clothes, struck the residence of Aneesur Rehman around 2.30 am on Sunday. The residents, who witnessed the police action, said that the policemen might have been drunk. The police party scaled over the walls of the house and went upstairs where Aneesur Rehman and his two brothers were sleeping.

Asghari Begum, mother of Anees, told Dawn in the hospital, "policemen ruthlessly thrashed my sons and when my husband and I came in their way, we were given a severe beating".

Ziaur Rehman and Attaur Rehman, brothers of Anees, suffered injuries on the head. The police ransacked the house. Broken canes of policemen, 11 emptycartridges and 2 live bullets were found in the area. SDM Latifabad, Khalid Mehmood Sheikh visited the house, alongwith MQM MPA from Hyderabad, Syed Afzal Shah.

Police had resorted to heavy firing in the colony and there were marks of bullets on the walls of various houses.

A resident told this reporter,"On hearing screams, I tried to come out of my house to see what was happening. But I was pushed inside the house on gun point by the police." Another eye witness said that he was watching the high-drama from the back side of his house when the mother of Anees was begging the police for the release of her sons. He added that the police had to leave the family free on the intervention of the residents of the colony who had finally come out of their houses. The aunt of Aneesur Rehman showed the visiting journalists empty ornament boxes and claimed that cash and jewellry had been taken away by the police. Unit No. 12 was not within the jurisdiction of B-Section police, yet they carried out the raid. However, no entry was made in the records of the B-Section police and no case was registered at A-Section police station from either side.

SHO B-Section police station, Masood Iqbal, claimed that there was a clash between the residents and the police, when the latter had gone to nab Raees Raja, a friend of Aneesur Rehman, involved in a motorbike robbery. He said that the family of Aneesur Rehman was not sleeping when the police went there. However the cousin of Aneesur Rehman, contradicting the SHO's statement, said "our guests, who had come from India, were scheduled to leave for Lahore on Sunday at 8 am. That was why we went to bed early in the night".

The SHO said that when the police was fired upon, they fired back in self- defence. He added that ASIs, Iftikhar Khanzada, Yaseen Brohi, Manzoor Sodhar and police constable, Attique were injured. Although,there was an entry in the register of the medico-legal section of Civil Hospital in this respect, none of the said policemen was admitted there. Contrary to the SHO's claim, ASI Yaseen Brohi was present at the B-Section police station wearing starched cotton suit and appearing quite fresh.

Disputing SHO's statement, the residents claimed that Raja was an activist of MQM Haqiqi and Anees had no friendship with him. Instead, he had complained against Raees to MQM zonal office and, at one time, Anees was kidnapped at the instance of Raees.