Seeking more time for submitting a report on the worsening law and order in Balochistan, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI) on Friday requested the Supreme Court to hear the matter in-chambers, owing to its sensitivity.
A three-member bench headed by Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan was hearing two cases – a petition filed by Balochistan High Court Bar Association (BHCBA) President Hadi Shakeel Ahmed against the incidents of targeted killings, kidnapping for ransom and the overall poor law and order in the province and a suo motu notice on the brutal killing of the wife and daughter of Balochistan’s MPA Bakhtiar Domki in Karachi.
The court directed both intelligence agencies to submit a detailed report on the deteriorating law and order, particularly the series of targeted killings in the province. The court also asked the Balochistan government to file its report on the matter by March 7.
At the onset of hearing, the court asked Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq about a report sought from the spy agencies on the law and order in Balochistan. Haq said he had conveyed the court’s direction to both the agencies, however, they had sought time for filing the report after March 5.
He said both agencies had pleaded for an in-camera briefing or in-chamber hearing of the matter due to its sensitivity.
Without delivering any observation to the agencies’ response, the court adjourned the hearing until March 7, directing for the investigations into Domki’s family murder case to be included in the report of the agencies.
Meanwhile, the Sindh additional advocate general submitted a report before the court pertaining to police investigation into the murder of Domki’s wife and daughter in Karachi.
The Sindh additional advocate general, Karachi Police DIG Shaukatullah and SSP Niaz Khoso appeared before the court.
The court expressed dismay over the slow progress of police investigation into the case and noted that the report submitted before it was not satisfactory, thus serious efforts were needed to probe into the matter.
Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan inquired whether the rounds were fired from a single or more than one gun, saying that it was claimed in the report that as many as 36 MTs were recovered from the crime scene, to which SSP Khoso submitted that the bullets were fired from a single gun.
However, he said further investigations were underway. While going through the report, the court observed that witnesses had suspected two different brands of cars being used by the assailants. The additional advocate general informed the court that police had launched a search operation in which they had inspected more than 600 cars so far.