JIT head told to make all efforts to recover missing govt employee

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday directed the head of joint investigation team (JIT) to make all possible efforts for the recovery of a missing government employee by using modern technology.

Hearing petitions against the enforced disappearance of Kamran and other citizens, an SHC division bench headed by Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto directed the secretaries of the federal interior and defence ministries to seek reports on missing persons from internment centres and submit them to the court.

Missing person Kashif Ali’s counsel said the government has stopped the salary of the missing person despite the fact that his whereabouts are unknown. The investigating officer said a JIT session was held on May 16, and sought time for the recovery of the missing person.

DSP Hyderi Larkana Paris informed the court that efforts are being made to recover the missing government employee of the education department. The district education officer Shahdadkot said in his report that the salary of the missing person was stopped due to his absence for a couple of years.

The court said the case of the missing person was also discussed in the provincial task force’s (PTF) meeting, in which certain directions had been issued to the IO to collect fresh reports from federal and provincial law enforcement agencies as well as call reports on travel history from the Federal Investigation Agency.

The court also directed the IO to collect reports from the remaining agencies, including the detention centres. Regarding the salary of the missing person, the court said the missing person is still missing, so the salary cannot be released to a government servant who is not performing his duties.

The court directed the secretaries of the ministries of defence and interior to collect reports from all the agencies working under their control and submit their reports to the court. In another detention case, the court was informed by the petitioner’s counsel that his client had received a call from an unidentified number for the release of the missing person. The court expressed dissatisfaction over the conduct of the IO for not tracing the caller who had sought money from the petitioner.

The court directed the DIG investigation to look into the matter and submit a progress report to the court. The SHC directed the home secretary and the relevant officers to repeat the sessions of the JIT and the PTF, and submit compliance reports on the next date of hearing.