Highlights

• Three bullet-ridden bodies were found in a well in Barkhan, Balochistan
• A poor man from the Marri tribe says they were his wife and two sons
• The man says his five other children remain incarcerated at the private jail of Abdur Rehman Khetran
• The poor man and his family were caught up in a fight between the tribal leader and his son
• Hundreds from Marri tribe staged a sit-in in Kohlu on Tuesday
• Marri protesters are now in Quetta with bodies for sit-outside the Red Zone
• Khetran denies the allegations
• Post mortem: Barkhan female body not the woman seen in viral video

The Balochistan Police Tuesday played down “rumours” and promised “a high-level impartial inquiry” into the recovery of three bullet-ridden bodies from a well in Barkhan.

A man named Khan Mohammad aka Ismail Marri has identified the bodies. They are his wife and two sons, who he said were being held by provincial minister Abdur Rehman Khetran at his private jail.

Hundreds of people from the Marri tribe staged a sit-in in the neighbouring district of Kohlu on Tuesday.

Marri says his five more children, including a teenage daughter, remain incarcerated at the same private jail.

The recovery of the bodies has taken the internet by storm but details remained sketchy.

Who is Marri and why did Abdur Rehman Khetran, introduced as a provincial minister and MPA in most of the reporting, lock up his wife and children?

This is a story of a clash between a powerful man and his rebel son and a worker who was caught up in the fight.

Sardar Khetran and Mohammad Khan Marri

Sardar Abdur Rehman Khetran, 64, heads the Khetran tribe in Balochistan’s Barkhan. He was first elected to the Balochistan Assembly in 2013. Since his re-election in 2018, he has been a member of provincial cabinets. Currently, he holds the portfolio of Food and Population Welfare.

The Khetran tribe is based in Barkhan districts and some parts of neighbouring Kohlu and Musakhel districts.

The Marris and Bugtis are two other main tribes in the region. Under British rule they formed alliances or supported each other.

Khan Mohammad Marri from Haji Kot in Barkhan was employed by Rehman Khetran as domestic help and a guard.

Haji Kot is the same town where Rehman Khetran was born. So, they are from the same town but from different tribes and social positions.

Marri’s ordeal

In 2018, Sardar Khetran and his grown-up son Inaam Shah came face-to-face over a property ownership dispute. Inaam Shah says it was about the vehicles they owned.

Both Inaam and Khan Mohammad Marri say the father wanted to frame his disobedient son in a police case. He told Marri to testify against Inaam.

When Marri refused to side with Khetran against his son, the sardar had him arrested. Marri says he spent three and a half years in jail and was released after serving the term.

Meanwhile, eight members of his family remained in the custody of Khetran. They included his wife Giran Naz Bibi, six sons Mohamad Nawaz, Abdul Majid, Abdul Qadir, Abdul Sattar, Abdul Ghaffar, Mohammad Imran and a teenage daughter Farzana.

Phone smuggled into private jail

After Marri came out having served his term, he sought the release of his family from Khetran’s private jail.

Apparently, with the help of Inaam Shah, Marri smuggled a mobile phone to the private jail where his wife and children were being held.

Giran Naz Bibi recorded a video holding a copy of the Holy Quran. In the video, she says they are being held by Sardar Khetran.

Mohammad Khan Marri was able to launch a passionate appeal for the release of his family. The clip showing Giran Naz with a copy of the Holy Quran went viral.

Khan Mohammad Marri too recorded a video statement that was shared by several people including Major (retd) Khurram Hussain Rokhri in December.

He said Sardar Khetran had subjected his wife and children to physical and sexual abuse.

In January, Jamaat-e-Islami Senator Mushtaq Khan raised the issue in the Senate. The senator demanded that Minister Khetran be summoned by the Senate and the Balochistan chief secretary ordered to submit a report.

After the bodies were found Monday night, Senator Mushtaq lamented that politicians, judiciary, the elite and journalists had been too occupied by politics as a result of which the woman who had made an appeal with a copy of the Quran was found dead with her two sons.

Funeral and protest

The bodies were found in a well in Haji Kot on Monday evening at around 8pm. Police took them to the hospital and said the victims were aged between 25 and 30.

They were riddled with bullets before being thrown into the well, a police statement said. Other reports suggested the bodies were splashed with acid as well.

Khan Mohammad said the dead were his wife Giran Naz, eldest son Nawaz, 22, and 16-year-old son Abdul Qadir.

His teenage daughter Farzana and four other sons remain incarcerated in Khetran’s private jail, said Marri.

From the hospital, the bodies were moved to the neighbouring district of Kohlu where funeral prayers were attended by hundreds.

On Tuesday, hundreds of people from the Marri tribe staged a sit-in at Marri Chowk in Kohlu. Tribal leader Mir Nisar Marri was among them.

Some of the protesters demanded that bodies should be moved to Quetta to stage a bigger protest. They eventually left for Quettta with ambulances carrying the bodies. A protest continued Tuesday night in Quetta.

They are seeking justice and recover of the remaining five children. Khan Mohammad Marri claimed the Barkhan Superintendent of Police (SP) was refusing to register an FIR against Khetran.

What Abdur Rehman Khetran says

Sardar Abdur Rehman Khetran has given his side of the story, offering himself up for an investigation.

He said the authorities could investigate if a private jail existed on his land. He is ready to leave his position as a minister pending the investigation.

Khetran said he had asked the chief minister to form a Joint Investigation Team.

The sardar said that some people wanted to dent his political reputation.

In an interview with Urdu News, he also claimed that a conspiracy was being hatched to remove him as the sardar because he did not allow his district to become a safe haven for militants.

Khetran said his son turned against him after he refused to support him in the local bodies election.

Promise of high-level inquiry

The Balochistan police, meanwhile, issued a statement on Tuesday urging people to not pay heed to the rumours and wait for an inquiry report.

The statement said that the IGP had asked for a report and no leniency will be shown to the culprits.

“A high-level impartial investigation committee will be conducted in consultation with the families of victims whose bodies have been recovered from Barkhan,” the statement said.

Minister walks out in protest

Lawmakers in Balochistan Assembly strongly condemned the killings with Education Minister Naseebullah Marri walking out of the House in protest.

Naseebullah Marri, Asad Baloch and others demanded a judicial inquiry into the killings and recovery of the remaining five children of Giran Naz Bibi.

Marri said the incident was against the traditions of Balochistan as nobody took action even when the issue was raised in the Senate.

Every one of us is responsible for it, he said.

MPAs also offered Fatih for the dead.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Abdul Quddus Bizenjo has instructed the home department to form a JIT.

Bizenjo has offered condolence to the grieving family, a statement said.