Senior KP cops put on notice in forced disappearance case

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday put on notice top officials of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Department for forced disappearance of a citizen from the prison’s premises.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Lal Jan Khattak issued the notice to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa inspector general of police (IGP), deputy inspector general of police (DIG) Mardan and station house officer of the relevant police station over the missing of a citizen from the Mardan prison.

The bench issued the notice in a habeas corpus petition filed by Sajjad alias Farman through his lawyer Farooq Afridi. The lawyer informed the bench that his client was interned in Mardan Prison in a criminal case. He submitted that the petitioner secured his release on bail from a subordinate court.

The lawyer contended that when the prison’s authorities on February 6 released him, the station house officer Naeem Khan re-arrested him from the jail premises in the presence of his relatives. The counsel informed the bench that his whereabouts remained unknown to the family members after his arrest.