16 missing persons traced, 14 return homes

LAHORE: Sixteen missing persons were traced and fourteen persons have returned to their homes safely, it was revealed during a hearing of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearance held in Lahore.

It was also revealed that two persons, Mehboob Shah, and Asjad Waheed Khan, have been found confined in an internment centre at Lakki Marwat. Commission Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, during his two-day visit to Lahore, presided over hearing in 25 cases of alleged enforced disappearance pertaining to Punjab on September on 16 and 17 despite his extremely important commitments in the Lahore NAB. According to the proceedings in each case, 14 persons have returned to their homes safely while Mehboob Shah and Asjad Waheed Khan have been found confined in an internment centre at Lakki Marwat.

The traced persons include Muhamamd Akram s/o Muhammad Hafeez, Danyal Waheed s/o Abdul Waheed, Muhammad Iftikhar s/o Muhammad Ilyas, Mehar Inam Bari s/o MuhammadAsharf Sohail, Haris Khan s/o Irshad Ali, Azhar Rehman s/o Abdul Rehman, Abdul Ahad s/o Azizun Nabi, Muhammad Ayub s/o Hafeezullah, Muhammad Abdullah s/o Malik Saeed, Hafiz Muhammad Afzal s/o Muhammad Akbar and Abdul Razzaq s/o Muhammad Khan. The parents of the traced persons, who appeared before Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, expressed their gratitude for the efforts he made to redress their grievances. The next session of hearings at Lahore is expected in the first week of November 2020.

According to Commission’s Assistant Registrar Faisal Manzoor, the traced persons were those whose whereabouts were known. “It does not mean the traced persons have returned to their homes. They could be in jail or being investigated,” he explained.