Police raided the home of provincial minister Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran after the bodies of a woman and her two sons were discovered in a well in Balochistan's Barkhan district.
Police searched the minister’s house, including the guest house, to recover the five abducted children of Khan Muhammad Marri. Women police officers were also among the raiding team.
Earlier, the minister, while giving his stance on the Barkhan incident, termed the allegations 'baseless propaganda' against him, adding that he has been in Quetta for the last 10 days and is not involved in the incident.
Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran claimed that the perception that every ‘Sardar’ or ‘Nawab’ has a personal jail was wrong. "I invite the media to come and see if there is a private jail or cell in my area," he added.
JIT Formed
Balochistan government has formed a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe the incident.
According to the notification issued by the provincial interior ministry, DIG Laura Lai will be the chairman of the JIT division, which also includes SSP Investigation Quetta and a representative of Special Branch Barkhan. The 5-member JIT will submit its report and findings within 30 days.
Preliminary Report Submitted
A preliminary report has been finalised on the Barkhan incident. DIG Loralai has submitted a preliminary report to the Police IG, stating that the bodies were found in an uninhabited well located in the Swaman area of Barkhan district. The bodies have been handed over to Abdul Qayyum Bajarani after completing medico-legal procedures.
The report maintained that, according to Qayyum Bajarani, Khan Muhammad Marri had given an application on January 18, in which he stated that his wife and two sons were in the captivity of Abdul Rehman Khetran in his private prison. The police adopted all measures to recover the hostages. However, no concrete evidence could be found regarding the alleged kidnappings, it stated. The report further stated that investigation was being done into every aspect of the incident.