‘MISSING PERSON’: INTEL OFFICIALS MAY BE SUMMONED

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 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 the Daily Times. The court held a recess 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 practise couldn’t be tolerated, adding that it had already given a judgement in missing persons’ cases and the court would move according to it.

Expressing concern, the court noted that the incident had 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 midnights 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.