Court action: Rangers personnel booked in missing persons case

A report denying the alleged detention of a student was rejected by the SHC

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) was informed that the Pakistan Colony police have booked unknown Rangers personnel on allegations of abducting a citizen on November 19.

This was disclosed before a division bench, comprising justices Shahnawaz Tariq and Mahmood A Khan, which was specifically constituted to hear the missing persons' cases. The petitioner, Sakina Jillani, had taken the federal and provincial governments, the Rangers director-general (DG) and SHO Pak Colony police station to court over the alleged illegal detention of her relative, Ghulam Farooq, by the Rangers from his Golimar residence on November 19, 2015.

The petitioner said the Rangers personnel informed the family that Farooq was being taken into custody for interrogation but refused to show any arrest warrant. She said applications had been filed with the Rangers DG to seek information about the detainee's whereabouts but were in vain.



During Thursday's proceedings, Pak Colony police officials informed the court that an FIR has been lodged against the Rangers personnel under Sections 364 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code. The judges took the police report on record and ordered the case's investigation officer to appear in the court on January 14. Meanwhile, the Rangers law officer, Habib Ahmed, requested time to file the paramilitary force's comments.

Rangers report rejected

The same bench rejected a report submitted by the Rangers law officer regarding efforts to ascertain the whereabouts of a student who has been missing since 2012. The bench directed on Thursday the law officer to file a fresh report on the whereabouts of Ahsanuddin Khan by January 7. Three years ago, Saifullah had approached the court against the alleged illegal detention of his son by law enforcement agencies. The petitioner said his son had gone to see his friend, Rafay, in Landhi and never returned.

Khan, who was working as a quality inspector at the Saima Packages and Printing Press in Korangi Industrial Area, was also a B-Tech student at the Dadabhoy Institute's Gulshan-e-Iqbal campus. During the course of the hearings, the law enforcers denied having detained or arrested the petitioner's son. Filing his counter-affidavit to the law enforcers' claims on October 1, 2015, the petitioner had alleged that his son and Rafay were taken away in an official mobile van No 84444 belonging to the Rangers Bhittai Wing-82 in Karachi. Rangers deputy superintendent Safdar, who let Rafay go home after being interrogated, did not release Ahsanuddin, he alleged.



Rangers Major Ashfaque Ahmed filed a progress report, stating that ground checks were made at all the command sector units of the paramilitary force in the province but Ahsanuddin was not detained or held by any of them.

DSP Landhi also filed a progress report, stating that efforts were being made to recover the petitioner's son. The judges wrote in their order, "Major Ashfaque Ahmed, law officer of the Pakistan Rangers, filed comments, however, the same are not satisfactory." They directed the paramilitary force's law officers to file comments with regard to the allegations that the detainee was at Bhittai Wing-82 by January 7.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 2^nd, 2016.