Habeas corpus petition: PHC angry over non-recovery of four missing persons

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday expressed anger over the non-recovery of the four persons who were kidnapped from Hayatabad a few weeks back.

A single bench of Justice Shakeel Ahmad while hearing the case remarked that it was the responsibility of the state to protect its citizens.The bench ordered the additional inspector general of police, Special Branch, to sit with the family and hear its point of view and submit a report to the court.

Deputy Attorney General Obaidullah Anwar appeared on behalf of the federal government.Nadir Shah Advocate representing the petitioners told the bench that armed men had kidnapped the four persons identified as Usman Khan, Mohammad Nasir, Abdul Waris and Zahir.

He said the CCTV footage of the incident was also available. The lawyer said Additional Chief Secretary Home Abid Majeed had told the court at the last hearing that a joint investigation team would be constituted to recover his clients, but to no avail. The additional advocate general told the court that the missing persons were not in the custody of any secret agency.

The court stopped the hearing for a while and summoned Additional Inspector General of Police, Special Branch, Kashif Alam and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Advocate General Shah Faisal Utmankhel.

Justice Shakeel Ahmad asked them what progress had been made in the case of the missing persons? To this, the advocate general replied that the joint investigation team had been constituted, which submitted a report, saying that the missing persons were not in the custody of any secret agency.

The advocate general said that the family of the missing persons had not nominated anyone in the first information report.The additional inspector general of the Police, Special Branch said that three meeting of the joint investigation team had been held, but the family of the missing persons did not cooperate with the JIT. The court ordered the additional inspector general of police, Special Branch, to sit with the family and resolve this matter within 14 days.