HYDERABAD: A single judge bench of the Sindh High Court, Hyderabad circuit, has referred the investigation of a suspect’s custodial death case against 15 Dadu police officials to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and directed the proposed accused to cooperate with the agency.
The order was passed on a criminal miscellaneous application filed by Babar Khan through Advocate Meer Ahmed Mangrio.
The 15 police officers and personnel nominated in the case as accused included DSP Sultan Ahmed Chandio, SHOs Qurban Qambrani, Khalil Rehman Massan, Benazir Jamali and 11 personnel.
The applicant is a resident of Haji Mohammad Bachal Jamali village, situated in Johi taluka of Dadu district.
Orders withdrawal of ‘encounter’ FIR, sets aside sessions court order
Justice Riazat Ali Sahar had heard the application under Section 561-A of Cr.PC on Aug 24, and had reserved his order, which was announced on Friday. The applicant impugned the May 13, 2026 order passed by a sessions judge of Dadu, dismissing his application under Sections 22-A & 22-B Cr.PC. He had sought registration of FIR against the accused over alleged custodial death of his brother, Nadir Jamali.
The applicant urged the high court to set aside the May 13 order of the sessions judge and order a fresh investigation.
The applicant sought to lodge his FIR under the ‘Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention and Punishment) Act, 2022’ and relevant sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) for the alleged extrajudicial killing.
Nadir Jamali had died in police custody at the B-Section police station of Dadu on Jan 7, 2026. His death was portrayed as a result of a police encounter, the applicant said, adding that an FIR (No. 3/2026) had earlier been registered at the A-Section police station of Dadu regarding the alleged encounter of Jan 6,2026. Subsequently, FIR (No. 5/2026) under Sections 324, 353, etc of PPC and FIR (No. 6/2026) under the Sindh Arms Act were registered at the B-Section police station and recovery of a weapon from the deceased was claimed.
The applicant contended that the alleged encounter was claimed to have occurred at about 9pm, thereby creating a material discrepancy concerning time and manner of death.
The judge observed that the controversy could be narrowed to one foundational question: whether material available on record is sufficient to exclude, at the threshold, the possibility that deceased was taken into custody before his death or whether the question required an independent investigation.
After jotting down several legal points, the judge set aside the May 13, 2026 order passed by the sessions court. The judge also ordered withdrawal of FIR No. 5/26 of the B-Section police regarding criminal case concerning death of Nadir Jamali from the file of the concerned court; and transmitted to the director of FIA’s Hyderabad zone.
The SHC order said that the zonal director should nominate a competent officer, either assistant director or above, for conducting further investigation in accordance with law including provisions of said Act 2022.
Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2026
