Islamabad High Court to summon intelligence officials if “missing person” not recovered

Islamabad [Pakistan], September 15 (ANI): The Islamabad High Court (IHC) said intelligence officials would be summoned if they fail to recover a “missing person” by Wednesday.
The court issued the directives while hearing a petition for the recovery of Haseeb Hamza, who reportedly went “missing” in August, reported the Daily Times.
The IHC instructed the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and Chief Commissioner to produce the missing citizen Haseeb Hamza by Wednesday 11:30 am after recovering him. The Chief Justice said that in case of failure in the recovery of the missing person by the chief commissioner, Islamabad Capital Territory and the Inspector-General of Police, the court would summon every responsible intelligence official and will hold them accountable.
Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the case filed by Zulifqar Ali, the father of the missing citizen. The petitioner’s lawyer adopted the stance that Hamza was lifted on August 22, by the unknown people in uniform. The police registered an FIR on the complaint but couldn’t recover him so far, he said, as per Daily Times.
The court held a recession and summoned IGP Akbar Nasir who appeared before it as the hearing resumed. The IGP said that the FIR was registered. The court said that this practice couldn’t be tolerated, adding that it had already given a judgment in missing persons’ cases and the court would move according to it.
Expressing concern, the court noted that the incident was taken place on August 22, but the FIR was registered on September 12.
In the petition, petitioner Zulfiqar Ali said his 27-year-old son Hamza was a farmer and was working in Layyah. On the midnight of August 22 and 23, around 20 persons – 15 of whom were in black uniform – raided the petitioner’s house without any search warrant, the plea said, as per Daily Times.
During the search, they apprehended the petitioner’s son, and seized several items, including five laptops, six cellphones and some documents. “The circumstances suggest that the detenu is a victim of state-enforced disappearance. The petitioner ran pillar to post for the search of his son, however, no information [was] received from any corner of state organs,” the petition said.
It also asked the court to identify and investigate those responsible, directly or indirectly, for abduction and illegal detention while also prosecuting those responsible.
Earlier, the Islamabad High Court has given the Pakistan government two months to take measures in order to recover missing persons and criticized the government for its sheer apathy in the matter, media reports said. IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah on Friday said that the government should resign if subordinate institutions are not under control, reported Pakistan’s local media outlet The Express Tribune. (ANI)