Agencies clueless about Ali Sheikh’s whereabouts

Karachi
As the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Intelligence Bureau (IB), in a joint investigation report submitted to the Sindh High Court on Thursday, claimed to have no information about the whereabouts of Muhammad Ali Sheikh, a businessman with ties to the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) who was allegedly detained by law enforcers from the Karachi Airport, the court ordered the director operations of the Airports Security Force (ASF) to bring in the CCTV footage records of the airport for June 18, the day on which Sheikh was said to have been picked up.
The order came during the hearing of a petition filed by Sheikh's wife, Abida Begum, who has been demanding information about her husband's whereabouts since he was arrested before a flight for the United States. At the last hearing, held on October 1, the bench had called for submission of a JIT report regarding the missing person's recovery which was duly presented by the provincial law officer yesterday.
As per the report, representatives of the ISI and IB denied having anything to do with Sheikh's detention and claimed to have know information about his location either. However, the provincial law officer told the court that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) and the ASF were yet to file their versions on the matter.
The last tracked location of Sheikh's cell phone, as stated in the report, was C-34, Shah Faisal Colony, Malir Halt but there had been no traceable signals ever since.
At the last hearing, the court had also been informed of the witnesses’ statements being recorded by sub-division police officer Iftikhar Ahmed Lodhi. It was the same officer who had told the court that, according to the ASF's claims, the airport’s CCTV recordings were inaccessible as all footage was automatically deleted after 20 days.
The court had summoned the ASF director operations for yesterday's hearing to explain the disappearance of the CCTV footage but he failed to turn up. The bench, headed by Justice Irfan Saadat Khan, therefore ordered that a notice be served to the ASF official through the SSP concerned, calling for his appearance at the next hearing along with the airport's CCTV records for June 18.
Sheikh, a brother of a former member of the Sindh Assembly and a resident of Sukkur, is alleged to have been involved in land grabbing and corruption, with several reports also citing him as the purported 'front man' for one of the most influential personalities among the top PPP leadership.

Doctor's detention
The SHC directed the Rangers' law officer to submit a reply on a petition against the detention of a doctor. The petitioner, Rubina Yousuf, submitted that her spouse, Dr Yousuf Sattar, was associated with the Ziauddin hospital and was picked up by paramilitary personnel on August 29.
Her lawyer also presented the CCTV recording of Dr Sattar's arrest and the court directed the Rangers law officer to verify the video and submit a report on the matter by November 19.
The court also issued notices to federal and provincial law officers to submit reports regarding the alleged detention of several other citizens by law enforcers. The petitioners had submitted that Mohammad Imitiaz Hussain, Haseeb Khan, Habib Khan, Mohammad Ishaque, Mohammad Tariq, Nauman Khan, Kamran Khan and Zakir Hussain were picked up by law enforcers in different raids conducted in Malir, Clifton, Sohrab Goth, Quaidabad, Korangi, FC Area, Lines Area and North Nazimabad, and their whereabouts were still unknown.