Page 355 - PERSIAN 9 1941_1947

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cit,3i* :nd tea. They were later tracked down by th.e loc-*l
-olice (who discovered that they had been led by a Consulate
gardener) ar.d a great .ortion ox* the stolen property was
recovered.

4. Sarly in April, a number of hold-ups occurred on the
E.*r.dar Abbas road , near Kajiabsd; The Gendarme3 v.ere unable
to aprreheriv* the b^uaits and it was in this connection that
the General Officer Commanding informed H*K* Consul that he
iiAd no confiuince whatever in the Gsndvriasrie, and that he
h*d pro^o-ed to Tehran tf.-t a tody of the military should be
sent to this area to m..ir:tiiu security.
5. During the first r.df of Kay, several hold-ups were
reported. The uout important ox' these was. the stteck on
Colonel Aziai (the Brigadier «t zabul) end his wife while cn iii
their way to Kerman from Zshidan* Both received gunshot
wounds* ” Until this inci-ent occurred, it was generally
believed that, owin^. to the presence of tne Indian Lor^ Range
Fatrol, the Kerm-n-Z-hid*n road v.ss reasonably safe for
travellers.

3. Later in Kay, Murs-d-AliKurad, with a party of 20
irmed bandits, attacked s detachment of troops two farsak*
from Sirjan. Four soldiers ..ere killed and a number of
Goverrxnent rifles captured by the banuit3* Colonel Alikai,
the Staff Officer to the General Officer Commanding, imne-
didtely left for the spot with a Cavalry Regiment, cut Murad
had apparently' foreseen this move ana hud teken refuge in
flight to Fax's.

7. On/ June 3rd, an armed ..ang, believed to be of the
Buchekchi tri':e, attacked :nu robbed a caravan near Rental
Arab and another ccmirv from Rsbur on the Bardsir-le.s rc-n.
e. On June 14th, Aqai Ams nullah Khr.n Amsri, a leading
ibndoi.ner of Karmar., was fired on by an armed gang while on
his way to Ray in. bio chauffeur received severe wound.*
in tne neck a:.a shoulder anu was brought to Kerman for
treatment. The robbers relieved Araanullsfc of four Government
rifle3 which he had obtained on loan from the Military for
issue to his private guards ana decamped with hit person?!
kit and some cash.
9. On June 7th, Aqai Ahmad Dilmagtani, a prominent land-
owner and merchant of Kerman, was held up by a party of four
armed men while on his way to Ahmedabad from Zarand. His
driver and two companions were bound and placed in a well
nearby anu Dilmaghani was taken a short distance from the
car and deliberately murdered in cola b&ood. This incident
caused a wave of public indignation against the authorities
responsible for maintaining security and v;ila rumours were
circulated in which the Zorastrisn community, the rival Modem
party, the Ibr&himi family and even the British authorities
were accused of having- instigated the killing, A commission
of three inaividuals arrived from Tehran to make ir.vcstigaf
tions into the case sna after a conoidercble period, arrested
11 persons suspected of complicity in the murder, whom they
took to Tehran. These included S&tY/an Mir Hussaini, a
Gendarmerie officer and Acai Rustam Khan, a prominent member
of the Ibrahirai family, v»ho vns however later released on
bail.
10. Lieutenant Felli, an American officer attached to the
2.B.R. office in Kerman, was arabushed and fired at by a party

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