Report on missing activist sought

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Monday sought a report from Ministry of Defence pertaining to whereabouts of a missing rights activist Raza Mahmood Khan.

As hearing started, a Deputy Attorney General Javed Kasuri filed a report on behalf of Ministry of Interior which disclosed that the alleged missing activist was not in custody of any of the agencies working under it.

The petitioner’s counsel Asad Jamal argued that the court in its previous order had sought a report from the Defence Ministry along with reports from Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI). He said the order had not been complied with so far.

Justice Raja Shahid Mahmood Abbasi directed the federal law officer to submit the report in compliance with the previous order by May 7. In this case, Intelligence Bureau (IB) had already submitted a report expressing ignorance about the whereabouts of the missing activist. Meanwhile, a police officer told the court that Jail Road and Upper Mall were the two last locations of the activist after the alleged incident as per his mobile phone record. He sought more time to submit complete record of the missing activist’s mobile phone calls.

Hamid Nasir Mahmood had filed the habeas corpus petition contending that his brother Raza Khan was allegedly abducted by unidentified persons on December 2, 2017 from his Model Colony residence.

He said Naseerabad police registered an abduction case against unidentified suspects but failed to recover his brother or make any arrest. He asked the court to order the police to recover his brother and produce before the court. Raza Khan was a convener of Aghaz-i-Dosti, an initiative between the youth of Pakistan and India.