SHC orders LEAs to find ‘missing’ KDA official

Karachi

The Sindh High Court directed the federal and provincial law-enforcement agencies on Tuesday to make efforts to find Karachi Development Authority anti-encroachment cell chief Jameel Baloch, who is missing since May 27.

The directives came on a petition filed by Syed Sultan Ahmed against KDA officer Baloch’s “abduction” near Civic Centre.

The petitioner submitted that Baloch, who was very active in the anti-encroachment and anti-land grabbing drive in the city, was abducted by some people soon after he left his office at the Civic Centre and his car was found abandoned near the Aziz Bhatti police station.

IGP AD Khowaja informed the court that a case had been registered and an investigation was under way.

In their separate replies, the SSP East and the SHO Aziz Bhatti police station said a case had been registered under sections 365 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of the missing director’s relative, Abdul Karim.

They said the Anti-Violent Crime Cell and the Citizens-Police Liaison Cell had also been requested to help trace the missing official.

They added that the statements of Baloch’s colleagues, his staff and relatives were also being recorded.

Besides, the call record of Baloch’s cell phone had also been obtained.

Police authorities said they had inspected the site and information was being collected from a nearby hospital’s security guard, Amir.

They added that surveillance too was under way to learn the whereabouts of the KDA official.

The IGP informed the court that every possible step were being made to find the KDA ACE director.

He added that SSP Zulfiqar Mahar was personally supervising the investigation. The police chief assured that weekly reports would be submitted to the court for its
perusal.

The Rangers law officer also denied the paramilitary force’s involvement in the arrest or abduction of the KDA officer.

An SHC division bench headed by Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah directed police and other law-enforcement agencies to ensure that the missing official was found and submit a progress report on June 2.

 

Milk price case

The SHC ordered the Karachi commissioner, the dairy farmers association and others to not increase the retail price of fresh milk.

Hearing petitions on the fixing of the retail prices of dairy products, the court also made it clear that any decision in this regard should be taken strictly in accordance with the law.

Karachi commissioner Syed Asif Hyder Shah filed a report on the action taken against the shopkeepers involved in overcharging.

He said since March 2 this year, action was taken against 306 shopkeepers for selling fresh milk at higher rates than the officially fixed one.

He added that fines worth Rs1,885,000 had also been imposed on the violators. The commissioner said 103 shopkeepers had been sent to the jail for overcharging.

The representatives of the dairy farmers’ association alleged that shopkeepers were facing action even though they were selling fresh milk at Rs70 per litre.

Additional advocate-general Ghulam Mustafa Mahesar said dairy farmers wanted to increase the price of milk ahead of the month of Ramazan.

He pleaded to the court to restrain them from doing so.

The court ordered that the price of fresh milk should not be increased further till its final orders.

It told the dairy farmers association to submit an application to the Karachi commissioner for addressing their grievances on the alleged illegal action against shopkeepers.