Seeking justice: Reports on whereabouts of missing KU director sought

KU finance director Qazi Azhar Abbas went missing soon after he left home on Thursday.


Our Correspondent July 25, 2014

KARACHI:


Merely hours after the Karachi University (KU) finance director was allegedly abducted, the varsity went to court against the law enforcers.


Qazi Azhar Abbas, the finance director, had left home for the university at around 9am on Thursday, along with his driver in his car (GL-7612), said Asif Mukhtar, the varsity’s legal affairs director, in the application filed to the Sindh High Court (SHC) the same day.

Meanwhile, Gulshan-e-Iqbal police confirmed that Abbas was arrested from the area by Sohrab Goth on Thursday. Gulshan-e-Iqbal police station SHO Aurangzeb Khattak said that Abbas was arrested since an FIR No. 448/2013 with sections on theft and robbery was registered with the police station last year. However, Sohrab Goth police station SHO Shoaib Qureshi denied the arrest and said that the news was ‘fake’.

The application filed on behalf of the KU management to the SHC claimed, however, that Abbas was allegedly intercepted by police personnel in uniform and some unidentified personnel of the law enforcement agencies in plainclothes when he approached the signal at Rab Medical Centre in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Block 13-D. The personnel, who were in two or three police vans and two private cars including a red Mehran, abducted Abbas, stated the application, quoting the statement of the driver, Haider Zaman.

According to the driver, the law enforcement personnel forcibly took Abbas with them in the car from the overhead bridge that goes towards Karachi University. Since then, his whereabouts are unknown and no contact has been made as his mobile phones are switched off.

The application also pointed out that a similar incident had also taken place on July 22, when the KU vice-chancellor’s adviser, Dr Sohail Barkati, was abducted near the varsity by police personnel while he was on his way to home from the varsity.

The applicant submitted that Dr Sohail was later dropped off on University Road and he was threatened not to disclose his abduction to anyone. The applicants requested the chief justice take notice of the matter so that Abbas can be recovered as soon as possible. It pointed out that Abbas is a heart patient and is diabetic.

Taking notice of the incident, SHC acting CJ Justice Faisal Arab converted the plea into a constitutional petition and issued notices to the home secretary, Sindh IG and Rangers DG for July 25 (today) to file their comments.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25th, 2014.

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