Raid at Sardar Khetran’s home after three bodies found.

A police team stormed the home of Provincial Minister for Communication and Works Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran late on Tuesday night after hundreds of Marri tribesmen staged a sit-in inside the Red Zone of the provincial capital and three dead were found in a well in the Barkhan area of Balochistan.

The scenario, which also sparked a contentious discussion on the province assembly’s floor, arose from the late-night Monday discovery of three bodies, believed to be those of Khan Muhammad Marri’s wife and two boys.

He identified them as his wife Granaz, age 40, and sons Muhammad Anwar, age 22, and Abdul Qadir, age 15, who were held in a private jail in Haji Kot for the previous four years.

Marri, a former security guard for a provincial minister, claimed that his wife and sons were detained in Sardar Khetran’s private prison and that five further members of his family, including his daughter, 13, were still awaiting trial.

Sardar Khetran, however, refuted the claim and called it a conspiracy. The minister claimed it was an effort to discredit him and have him abdicate his position as tribal chief of the Khetran tribe.

He claimed that while he was not in Barkhan and had been in Quetta for more than a week, the remains had been found 1.5 kilometres from his home village.

Since elections are approaching, claims like these are always made, according to Sardar Khetran, who even accused one of his own sons, Inam Shah, of being against him.

The three victims whose remains were found in the well had been kept in his father’s “secret jail,” according to Inam Shah, who refuted his father’s accusations.

Late on Tuesday evening, a large group of police officers and security guards under the command of SSP Muhammad Asif roped off Sardar Khetran’s home and guest house in the Patel Bagh neighbourhood and carried out a search alongside female police officers.

The entire guest home, including the basement, was searched. Nevertheless no arrest was mentioned until the publication of this article. Neither was Sardar Khetran present throughout the search.

Protest and Discovery

The three bodies were discovered in the well after locals alerted the authorities to their presence. Levies troops and other security personnel hurried to the scene to remove the bodies.

Authorities reported that after killing the woman and her two sons, unidentified individuals dumped the bodies in a deep well. According to hospital officials in Kohlu who examined the remains, the victims’ cause of death was obvious from the bullet wounds in their heads and the torture marks on their bodies.

They said that the woman’s face was crushed and that their hands and feet were bound by ropes.

After the horrifying discovery, the heirs of the deceased transported the bodies to Kohlu, where hundreds of people delivered their funeral prayers. Eventually, a sizable procession of Marri tribesmen took the coffins to Quetta.

As the demonstrators arrived at Quetta’s Red Zone, they declared they would postpone their action and refuse to bury the victims unless Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited them.

Assembly

The incident also raised in the Balochistan Assembly, when both Treasury and opposition lawmakers vehemently denounced the woman and her two boys’ brutal murder.

Speaking on a point of order, Mir Arif Jan Muhammad Hasni referred to it as a cruel conduct that violated tribal traditions and religion.

The house was evacuated by Education Minister Mir Nasibullah Marri, who urged the arrest of those responsible for this heinous deed.

The woman, who could be seen in a video asking for the government and society to save their lives while clutching the Holy Quran in her hand, was not noticed, according to Mir Nasibullah Marri, and she had not received any assistance.

Since we all said nothing in response to her request, we are all to blame for this catastrophe, he declared.

He claimed that when women interacted with the warrior groups, hostilities in Baloch civilization came to an end. He said that the matter shouldn’t take on a tribal overtone and that all efforts should be made to apprehend those responsible.

Additionally, he directed that the five Khan Muhammad Marri children still detained in the private jail be immediately released. He also asked the Chief Judge of Balochistan to take note of the occurrence.

A five-member JIT led by DIG Loralai has been established, the home minister announced to the house, and it would present its report in 30 days.