Missing person tells IHC he’s warned against using social media platforms

ISLAMABAD: The local police Monday produced a missing person before the Islamabad High Court (IHC).Chief Justice Athar Minallah presided over the hearing on a petition filed by Munib’s father Mohammad Akram. Justice Minallah had directed the police and intelligence agencies to produce Muneeb Akram in the court on Monday.

When asked by the chief justice as to his whereabouts, Munib said he was asleep at home on August 19, 2022 when he was forcefully called to the door by unknown individuals clad in shalwar kameez.

He said the men asked him for his laptop password and told him “never to use” the social media platforms Twitter and Facebook, says a news report.The victim’s further said he was scared and was eventually dropped in the Kallar Kahar area after being held captive for five or six hours.

Akram said he stayed with a friend in his village for around 40 days and did not inform his family of the whole situation out of fear.After hearing Munib’s version of events, the court asked the area station house officer (SHO) how were such individuals were roaming within his jurisdiction. Justice Minallah also summoned the deputy superintendent of police (legal) of the capital city police for the next hearing stating the court wanted to better understand the increase in the frequency of such incidents in Islamabad.

The court stated that the personnel of other counter-terrorism departments were entering Islamabad and questioned who should be held responsible for such a situation.“This is the second or third incident of a person going missing. Tell me why is this happening. Tell me who is responsible for this,” the chief justice questioned the defence ministry’s representative.

The ministry’s representative informed the court that they had asked the intelligence agencies to find out the missing person after the court order. After the investigation of the two agencies, it was found that neither of them had him, he told the court.

At this, Chief Justice Athar Minallah said, “Our intelligence agencies are among the best in the world. If a citizen is picked up, the job of the agencies is to find him out and not to say they did not have him”.