SHC unhappy with performance of IOs in missing persons’ cases

The Sindh High Court took exception to the performance of investigation officers (IOs) in missing persons’ cases and observed that the issue of the disappearance of citizens could be resolved if they made honest and hectic efforts for their recovery.

Hearing identical petitions with regard to enforced disappearances of citizens, division bench headed by Justice Aftab Ahmed Gorar observed that the court was regularly flooded with a number of cases in respect of missing persons.

It observed that the issue could only be resolved if the IOs made honest and hectic efforts to find the missing persons. The court observed that it was difficult to witness the suffering of the affected families, but the police investigation officers only filed stereotypes reports which could not serve the purpose.

In the illegal detention case of Mohammad Sharif, who was allegedly taken into custody by former Sachal SHO sub-inspector Shoaib, the court directed the investigation officer to approach the National Database Registration Authority for blocking the national identification card of the sub-inspector. It ordered that his name be placed on the exit control list.

The court also told the IO to approach the State Bank of Pakistan to freeze the bank accounts of the absconding police officer, who escaped arrest after the dismissal of his bail by an anti-terrorism court in February this year.

The Sindh High Court directed police and other law enforcement agencies to file comments on petitions challenging the detention of citizens allegedly by their personnel. Petitioners Marium, Hina,, Rukhsana, Wajeeha, Afzal Zehra, Syed Sakhawat, Anwar Minhas, Mohammad Aslam and Mohammad Arqam submitted that Mohammad Hasan, Adnan Bashir, Mohammad Yaseen, Kamran Hamid, Ghulam Mohiuddin, Syed Ali Hasan, Ahmed Minhas, Waqar Rehman and Shah Zob were picked up by personnel of law enforcement agencies from Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Sachal, Orangi Town, Gulshan Iqbal, North Karachi, North Nazimabad, KDA Officers Society and Azizabad, and their whereabouts were unknown. They submitted that police were not making efforts for recovery of the detainees. The court directed the IOs to ascertain the whereabouts of the detainees by using modern technology and submit progress reports.

Ex-jailers get bail

The Sindh High Court granted bail to suspended prison officials facing charges of abetment, disappearance of evidence and harbouring criminals.

The petitioners, Abdul Rehman Sheikh and Faheem Anwar, assistant superintendent prison and deputy superintendent prison who were booked in the case of a jailbreak by two Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) militants, submitted that the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) had falsely implicated them in a fresh FIR pertaining to the disappearance of evidence and harbouring criminals in prison.

Their counsel, Shaukat Hayat, questioned the CTD’s authority to register a case against the petitioners, submitting that the articles seized during a search operation by the Sindh Rangers in prison were mentioned in the ‘mashirnama’ prepared by the Rangers and the same were auctioned as per prison rules.

He said the petitioners had nothing to do with the offence as they were in judicial custody and could not be tried for the offence.

The assistant prosecutor general opposed the bail pleas, submitting that the applicants were found guilty of misconduct and negligence, resulting in the escape of hardened criminals involved in several high-profile terrorism cases from the jail premises.

The court, after hearing the arguments of the counsel, granted bail to the applicants for a surety of Rs1 million each; however, it directed the ministry of interior to place their names on the exit control list.