Govt officials put on notice over dead, missing crew members

Six of 12 Pakistanis on Yemeni ship
reported dead, six on Iranian ship missing

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has issued notices to the federal and provincial law officers, the interior secretary and others on a petition seeking an inquiry into the death of Pakistanis aboard a Yemeni ship and recovery of those missing while on an Iranian ship.

A counsel of the Ansar Burney Trust said in the petition that a cargo ship with 12 Pakistani crew members was hit by missile off the Mokha coast in Yemen, adding that six Pakistanis reportedly died while the others went missing in the incident. The petitioner said an Iranian cargo ship named MV Jouya-8, which was carrying six Pakistanis, was also missing since December 11.

The counsel said the families back home were not receiving any positive response from government officials, and requested the court to direct the foreign ministry to utilise its resources to locate the missing Pakistanis. The court issued notices to the foreign affairs secretary and others, and directed the petitioner to submit detailed particulars of the missing and killed Pakistanis.

 

Stone crushing plant

The SHC also directed the provincial law officer, the mines & mineral secretary and others to file comments on a petition against installation of stone crushing plants at Makli.

Shahnawaz Panhwar and others said a stone crushing plant had been installed in the Goth Ghulamullah village near Makli, which was hazardous to the lives of the villagers and the environment.

The petitioners said the residents of the adjacent villages were also being affected because of the stone crushing plant. They said the villagers were being afflicted with lung diseases due to all the dust being produced by the plant, and requested the court to direct the government to remove the plant from the village.

 

Detention cases

The high court also directed the federal and provincial law officers and the police to file comments on petitions against detention of citizens allegedly by personnel of law enforcement agencies.

Mohammad Nabi, Irfan Ali and Noor Mohammad said Samiullah, Ahmed Ali and Ashraf Noor were picked up by law enforcers from Manghopir and Shah Faisal Colony, and their whereabouts were hitherto unknown. They said that neither were the police disclosing the whereabouts of the detainees nor were the details of the cases being provided to them. They sought release of the detainees if they were not required in any cases.