KARACHI, April 15: The Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz, dissatisfied with measures taken by the provincial government to ascertain the cause of death of its chairman Basheer Qureshi, has decided to conduct a probe on its own.

The government has constituted a 15-member committee of forensic experts to analyse the samples of the late leader’s viscera.

JSQM secretary-general Asif Baladi said the JSQM had no trust in the committee because it consisted of government employees.

He said his aprty wanted the testing of samples by foreign experts. “We are collecting evidences, including the schedule of Basheer Qureshi’s travels and meetings with people since March 23’s Karachi rally to his death near Sakrand on April 7,” he said.

The JSQM, he said, believed that its leader had been poisoned to death by using some advanced method.

It could have been slow poisoning by ‘shaking of hands’ or through food or water or by other means, he said, adding that it needed to be investigated if anybody had been hired or used for eliminating the JSQM chairman by elements involved in the conspiracy.

Referring to the murder of Gen Asif Nawaz Janjua, Asif Baladi said it was established that he had been poisoned to death through the examination of his hair sent abroad.

“In case of Basheer Khan, the steps taken by the Sindh government are not satisfactory because Dr Umar Memon, head of the forensic experts committee admitted that they did not have the required equipment.

Moreover, there have been reports of change in the number of jars containing the viscera. They had also not taken samples from the heart and lungs of Basheer Khan,” he said.

When asked who could be involved in poisoning the JSQM chairman, Asif Baladi said the party was looking at the situation in a wider perspective.

Since the successful rally in Karachi on March 23, Basheer Khan had emerged as a powerful leader who could put up tough resistance to the forces of oppression and exploitation.

Therefore, any force, including certain allies of the government and their foreign patrons, could be behind the political murder, the JSQM secretary-general said.

He said the central council of the JSQM would meet on April 24 to decide the future course of action. The party has cancelled the death anniversary programmes of G.M.Syed, the founder of Jeay Sindh Movement, on April 25, he said. However, the JSQM leadership would pay a visit to his mausoleum in Sann.

About election of new head of the party, he said that as per democratic traditions, the national congress of the JSQM would meet to elect its chairman.—PPI