PHC summons police official in missing person’s case

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Monday summoned a police official over refusal to register a first information report (FIR) in a missing person case.

A single bench of Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth directed the station house officer (SHO) of the Sarband Police Station to appear in the court at the next hearing and explain as to why he did not register an FIR of a missing person.

The court took notice when it came to know during the hearing of a missing person case that the SHO had refused to lodge the FIR after he was picked up by some unknown persons in plain-clothes from his home and then he went missing. During the hearing, Mehboob Shah, counsel for petitioner Wali Shah, submitted that Waqar Shah, brother of the petitioner, was picked up by unknown persons of security agencies on April 19, 2017, and afterwards he went missing.

However, he informed the bench that on April 26, 2017, the petitioner wanted to register FIR of his missing brother, the SHO Sarband refused to lodge the FIR at that time. After hearing this, the court summoned the SHO at the next hearing. In another missing person case, the court directed focal person on missing person cases to ensure submission of agencies report in the case as missing person Irfanullah was the only brother of six sisters and family did not know about his whereabouts after he went missing. Similarly, the court sought a report from agencies in other 17 missing person cases on different dates.