SHC seeks practical guidelines for police investigators to recover missing persons

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday took exception to the performance of the police investigators regarding the cases of missing persons. The high court also expressed its dissatisfaction over recommendations of the provincial task force with regard to its guidelines to police investigation officers to trace the missing persons.

The SHC directed Sindh Home Secretary Abdul Kabir Kazi to submit practical recommendations which may enhance chances to ascertain the whereabouts of missing persons

Hearing a petition of Mir Dost with regard to the disappearance of his son Abdul Jabbar from Jamshoro and later his unconfirmed death, a division bench of the SHC headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha observed that the recommendations of the provincial task force to deal with the missing persons cases were neither realistic nor practical due to lack of capacity which the police have at their disposal.

The SHC observed that such recommendations would not assist the police in tracing the missing persons.

The home secretary undertook before the court that he would call a meeting of the provincial task force within two weeks for the sole purpose of making practical guidelines for the investigation officers in order to increase the chances of recovery of missing persons.

The high court observed that such recommendations should not be passed in stereotypical fashion and they must be practical, understandable and capable of being carried out by the investigation officers who were entrusted with the matters in order to enhance the chances of having the missing persons recovered.

The SHC directed the home secretary to submit a copy of such recommendations on the next date of hearing. The bench observed that it had been mentioned in a report of a joint investigation team (JIT) that the missing Jabbar had died many years ago due to hepatitis.

The court observed that the JIT should find the death certificate of the missing person or at least collect proof and affidavits of the persons well known in the locality or administration of the hospital to such effect.

Additional IG Dr Amir Ahmed Sheikh also filed a report mentioning that the Sindh police did not have any lie detecting machine and facial analysis facility, due to which the police could not conduct any lie detecting test and facial analysis.

He submitted that a standard operating procedure (SOP) had been prepared keeping in view the local requirement and best practices used worldwide and it had been distributed to all the police units concerned for strict compliance and all the investigation SSPs had confirmed that they were complying with the SOP in carrying out investigations into the cases of missing person.

Dr Sheikh also placed a summary of the missing persons cases in 2019 mentioning that 717 cases had been registered of a total of 752 missing persons.

He said 326 missing persons had been recovered while 416 cases of missing persons were pending in which the police had complied with the SOP in 366 cases.

The SHC had earlier raised serious concerns over the performance of the provincial task force and investigation officers and directed the home department to use modern techniques for the recovery of missing persons.