PHC questions police performance in Hayatabad kidnapping case

PESHAWAR: Justice Ejaz Anwar of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday expressed annoyance at the rising incidents of kidnapping, questioning the performance of the police.

“The people are being kidnapped while the police force is clueless,” he made these remarks while hearing a writ petition seeking the recovery of three persons, who were kidnapped recently from Hayatabad.

A citizen Gulzara Alkorzi had filed the petition through her lawyer Mohammad Nadir Shah. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Advocate General Shah Faisal Utmankhel, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Akhtar Hayat Gandapur, capital city police officer (CCPO) and other officials appeared in the case.

The lawyer for the petitioner told the court that a group of armed men clad in police uniform kidnapped three persons at night from Hayatabad recently. He said the brother of the kidnapped persons was also picked up later when he went to the police station concerned to report the incident.

Questioning the performance of the police, Justice Ejaz Anwar asked what the police were doing when this incident took place. The IGP said the police were investigating the matter and would inform the court about any development in the case. He said the armed men dressed in uniform, who were seen in the CCTV footage, did not belong to the police force.

The advocate general said the government had started installing CCTV cameras to stop such happenings in the future. The CCPO said the police had constituted a committee under Superintendent of Police Cantonment which examined the CCTV footage, adding it was sent to the National Database and Registration Authority for identification, but the people could not be identified.

At this, Justice Ejaz Anwar remarked whether the people had come from Afghanistan that they could not be identified. The lawyer said the petitioner’s brother had gone to the police station concerned to report the incident but the cops did not register his complaint. The court gave the police seven days to sort out the matter. However, the advocate general requested the court to give 15 days to the police. The court gave the police 15 days and directed the officials to submit a report.