SHC puts IGP on notice on plea against disappearance of two more PTI activists

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday issued notices to federal and provincial law officers, Sindh inspector general of police and others on a petition against enforced disappearance of two more Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s social media activists.

Petitioners Imamuddin Siddiqui and Ramsha Farhat submitted in their petitions that Muddasir Rehman and Fahad Jamal Siddiqui were allegedly picked up by personnel of law enforcement agencies from the Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Tipu Sultan Road areas respectively and their whereabouts were not known.

They submitted that police were informed about their disappearance but they refused to register an FIR of the incident. The petitioners submitted that they had apprehension regarding the lives of the detained men who were not being traced and might be kept in unlawful detention by law enforcement agencies.

The high court was requested to direct the police and law enforcement agencies to produce the detained men before the court and provide details of cases, if any, against them. A division bench of the high court headed by Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto after a preliminary hearing of the petition issued notices to the inspector general of police, federal and provincial law officers and others and called their comments on April 6.

The SHC also directed the Baldia Hyderabad and Sachal police to submit reports with regard to illegal detention of a grade nine student. The petitioner had submitted that Zeeshan Ali Abbasi was picked up by police officials of Baldia Hyderabad and he had been detained at an undisclosed location.

He submitted that the detained person was a student of grade nine and his life was in danger. The high court directed the advocate general, prosecutor general and others to file comments on the petition and directed the SHOs of Baldia Hyderabad and Sachal to appear before the court along with relevant reports on April 19.

In another detention case, the SHC directed police and other law enforcement agencies to file comments with regard to illegal detention of a citizen.

The petitioner alleged that detainee Zahoor Ahmed was picked up by personnel of law enforcement agencies from the Garden area on February 3 and his whereabouts were unknown. The counsel submitted that no case had been registered against the enforced disappearance of the detainee and there was danger to his life. The SHC directed the federal and provincial law officers and prosecutor general to file their respective comments on the next hearing.