Khairpur Police fail to trace girl’s killer

SUKKUR: The Khairpur Police have failed to arrest the alleged killers of Ramsha Wassan despite the passage of a week, displaying conventional apathy. Ramsha was gunned down on Feb 2 allegedly by Zulfiqar Wasan, a proclaimed offender, in village Nawab Wasan in the jurisdiction of Kumb Police Station over a matrimonial dispute.

According to the family of the victim, the girl was earlier kidnapped by the accused on Jan 19 and freed after the mediation of the PPP leaders Manzoor Hussain Wasan and Nawab Wasan.

However, last Friday Zulfiqar along with accomplices allegedly killed the girl at her house. According to Ramsha’s mother, initially the police did not register the murder case on the father’s, Parvez Wassan, complaint who reportedly disappeared when he went to the police station to lodge the complaint and was only released when the media raised the issue of his disappearance with SSP Tufail. Due to the failure of the police to redress the complaint, initially Ramsha’s parents were forced to relocate to another village following threats by the influential killer.

The murder and the police support for the alleged killer led to a furore in Khairpur led by members of the civil society and political leadership, including Dr. Farukh Bhanbhro, Fayaz Khamisani, PTI MPA, Aleem Adil Shaikh, PML-F MPA Nusrat Sehar Abbasi who condemned the incident and demanded the arrest of the accused. The issue was also strongly agitated in the Sindh Assembly on Monday. The accused is cited to be a close relative of PPP’s ex-minister Manzoor Hussain Wasan, Nawab Khan Wasan and sitting PPP MPA Munawar Wasan. He is a political, tribal influential who was reportedly seen active in the PPP circles.

Relenting to the pressure, the IG Sindh directed SSP Khairpur Ummer Tufail to ensure the arrest of the killer. Now the SHO Kumb Shoukat Rind has been suspended and Ameer Pathan posted as the new SHO. The police have also registered a murder FIR, citing state as the complainant and not the father. They have also rounded up 15 suspects, including the family members of the alleged killer.

In the new-found interest, the police have also found Zulfiqar Wasan to have been declared a proclaimed offender in 2013 but no action could be taken due to his strong political and tribal credentials. The police say the alleged killer is wanted in murders, 25 cases of kidnapping for ransom, highway robbery, car theft murders and other heinous crimes.