The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday expressed dissatisfaction over the progress of a police special team constituted for the recovery of missing children in the province and directed the DIG Criminal Investigation Agency (CIA) to conduct a joint investigation team session to ascertain the whereabouts of missing children.
Hearing a petition for the recovery of the missing children, an SHC division bench headed by Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto directed the police and investigation teams to use all modern devices to trace the missing children.
DIG CIA Arif Hanif submitted a progress report with regard to the recovery of the missing children, mentioning details of efforts being taken to find them. He submitted in the report that police teams had visited several shelters homes being run by NGOs to locate the missing children. The court was informed that advertisements had been published in various newspapers, carrying the names of missing children along with their other details, while television channels had also been approached to telecast announcements about the missing children.
The DIG submitted that B-forms of two missing children issued by the National Database and Registration Authority were provided by the parents and the same were provided to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to check the travel history of the children. The SHC was informed that as per the record, the two children had not travelled outside the country. Observing that no official from the FIA appeared before it, the court directed the director FIA to attend the case hearing with a progress report.
The SHC directed the investigation officers to record statements of the parents and display photographs of the missing children in public places, newspapers and TV channels. The court also directed the DIG CIA to collect information from all the federal and provincial law enforcement agencies and in the meantime, hold a JIT session for the recovery of the missing children. The JIT session would be headed by the DIG CIA, the SHC decreed.
The court also directed the Sindh home department to discuss the matter in the provincial task force and sought a progress report from the authorities by March 21.
The court directed the police to make all-out efforts and use modern techniques to ensure that the kids were recovered. The police were also directed to submit a progress report specifying every step to recover each missing child and the location from where the child had gone missing.
The petitioner, Roshni Helpline Trust, had moved the SHC, asking it to issue directives to the police that missing children’s cases be considered a cognisable offence and investigations of such cases should be initiated without any delay.
A counsel for the petitioner had submitted that the whereabouts of 18 children were still unknown and requested the court to direct the police to recover them. The petitioner said the cases of missing children had not been properly investigated and as a result many children had lost their lives.
Missing person cases
The SHC took exception to the conduct of investigation officers in missing persons cases and directed the Sindh inspector general of police (IGP) to look into the matter. Hearing petitions of Uzma Shahzadi and Shazma Imran with regard to the illegal detentions of Maaz Ahmed Khan, Talha Ahmed Khan and Kanwar Imran Ali Khan, the court observed that investigation officers in the missing persons cases had been conducting investigations in a casual manner, causing serious troubles and pains to the families of the missing persons. The court directed the IGP to look into the matter with regard to the investigation officers’ conduct and submit a compliance report.
In the detention case of Kanwar Imran, the court directed the petitioner to approach the Baloch Colony police station to record her statement. The petitioner, Shazma, had submitted that police and law enforcement agencies picked up her spouse Imran and two sons on February 8. She informed the court that her two sons were later released but whereabouts of her spouse was still unknown.
Directing the petitioner to approach the Baloch Colony police station, the SHC directed that an FIR be registered if any cognisable offence was made out.
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