HYDERABAD: The Jamshoro SSP in his statement submitted to the Sindh High Court’s Hyderabad circuit bench has said that the police, on the basis of their investigations and evidence collected, were satisfied that accused Anis Khaskheli was involved with Sindh University student Naila Rind and his betrayal compelled her to commit suicide.

Ms Rind’s body was found hanging from the ceiling fan of her room in SU’s Marvi Hostel in Jamshoro on Jan 2. She was a final-year student of Sindhi department.

The SSP also explained allotment of a bungalow on the SU campus to a senior police officer which made some quarters raise questions about an impartial investigation into the case.

The SSP stated that the digital and oral evidence gathered during investigation pointed to blackmailing and exploitation on the part of Khaskheli. The statement, submitted on Monday, was taken on record by the court, which fixed the matter for hearing by a division bench on Feb 3.

The SSP submitted that police conducted independent, fair and impartial investigation in view of sensitivity involved in the case. He said that a few relevant SU figures were examined to ascertain facts.

He informed court that police arrested Khaskheli on Jan 6 after collecting sufficient evidence against him. He said the accused confessed to his involvement with Ms Rind and his subsequent betrayal.

He further stated that the case was being investigated by a special team. Petitioners Qirat Fatima and seven others, including representatives of certain non-governmental organisations and students, had prayed to the court to ensure fairness, transparency and impartiality in the police investigation.

They contended that the Jamshoro SSP, who was a beneficiary of the SU and living in a well-maintained bungalow whose utilities bills were also paid by the university, was supervising the investigation. This, they said, compelled them [petitioners] and civil society to demand an impartial and independent inquiry into the case. They prayed to the court to order setting up of a judicial commission, headed by a sitting judge of the Sindh High Court or a district judge, to inquire into the woman’s mysterious death. They urged that the respondents should be directed to ensure eviction of Jamshoro SSP from the said bungalow.

In his statement, the SSP said the bungalow was allotted in 1999 to the then additional SP of Kotri as he was assigned the task of maintaining law and order on three campuses in Jamshoro. He said that at that time, there used to be disturbances on campuses.

Hence, the SU provided accommodation to the additional SP of Kotri in order to have effective supervision of law and order on the campuses. He said that Dadu district was bifurcated in 2005 and since there was no official accommodation for SSPs, they had been residing in that bungalow.

He informed the court that the SU authorities had also allocated one bungalow to Rangers for the same purpose, ie maintenance of law and order.

He maintained that protests involving political parties and teachers’ organisations [in those days] had to be responded to in a timely manner by [security] forces. He said that police and Rangers had succeeded in making campuses free of blackmailing.

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2017