Surath Lohar, head of Voice for Missing Persons of Sindh, has denounced the Counter Terrorism Department’s (CTD) recent encounter in Kotri and the subsequent press conference in Hyderabad as fabrications. Lohar claims that the two individuals shown to be arrested in the alleged encounter were already forcibly disappeared by Pakistani law enforcement agencies.
In a press statement, Lohar revealed that the two nationalist activists, Shaukat Malukhani and Naeem Malukhani, had been forcibly disappeared for over a year. Their staged arrest occurred last night near the Kotri Rice Warehouse, where CTD claimed a confrontation took place.
Lohar further asserted that CTD’s claim of another person, Sajan Malukhani, escaping during the encounter is false. Sajan has been missing since August 28, 2023, allegedly abducted by Pakistani agencies in Hyderabad. Lohar expressed concern for Sajan’s safety, fearing he might be harmed in a fake encounter.
She warned that any harm to Sajan or other missing persons would provoke a strong protest throughout Sindh. For the past year, families of the disappeared and various missing persons forums have been protesting across Qazi Ahmed, Nawabshah, Karachi, Hyderabad, and Larkana. These protests have been documented by local newspapers and TV channels.
Lohar appealed to international human rights organizations, including the United Nations, Amnesty International, the Asian Human Rights Commission, and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, to take notice of the severe human rights violations and state operations against political and nationalist activists in Sindh.
She concluded by rejecting CTD Hyderabad’s press conference and demanded the immediate release of Sajan Malukhani, a Sindh University student who has been missing for a year. Lohar threatened extensive protests across Sindh if their demands are not met.