High court dismayed at task force, JITs’ poor performance

Karachi

The Sindh High Court observed on Monday that the provincial task force and joint investigation teams formed to investigate missing person cases have failed to trace the people who had either “disappeared” or were allegedly taken by the law-enforcement agencies.

Hearing identical petitions seeking the whereabouts of several citizens who were allegedly under the unlawful detention of the law-enforcement agencies, the court expressed its dismay on the poor performance of the task force and JITs.

The court observed that concrete and result-oriented efforts should be made by the home department, police and other authorities concerned to trace the missing persons.

The petitioners’ counsel, Mohammad Farooq, submitted that the court had previously ordered the provincial government and the law enforcement agencies to find two missing people - Zia Iqbal and Mirza Mehmood Ali Baig - but they had not made any effort in this regard.  The court directed the home department and the police to file their replies over their failure to find the two men.

The court also issued notices on other petitions, directing the provincial and federal law-enforcement agencies to file their comments on the whereabouts of the missing people.

Petitioners Shaista Qaiser and Hira Shakeel submitted that the police and other law-enforcement agencies have taken away Kamran Khan and Syed Shakeel from Korangi and North Nazimabad respectively and their whereabouts were unknown.  The court also summoned the superintendent of the Karachi central prison, to explain as to why Pasban Pakistan’s general secretary, Usman Moazzam, was not produced before the joint investigation team.

Moazzam had moved a petition seeking the whereabouts of his son, Saad Siddiqui, who he claimed was under the illegal detention of the law-enforcement agencies.

While the petition was pending, the petitioner himself was booked in a terrorism case pertained to arranging medical treatment for terrorists at a private hospital being run by former federal minister Dr. Asim Hussain. 

Filling a progress report in the case of Saad Siddiqui, Gulberg police’s DSP Muhammad Sabir informed the court that a JIT was formed in compliance with the court’s orders to record the statement of the petitioner, Moazzam.

The police officer added that Moazzam, who was at the Karachi central jail, was produced before the JIT only once.

When the jail authorities were approached again, they refused to shift Moazzam to the police station.

The investigation officer submitted that that the prison authorities had asked him to produce the court’s orders for shifting his custody to the police station for recording his statement.

Taking notice of this conduct, the court directed the central prison's superintendent to appear in the court on August 27.