A file photo of Karachi police. PHOTO: AFP
Sindh High Court (SHC) directed on Monday the SHOs of the relevant police stations to register FIRs against the law enforcers, including the Rangers, regarding the disappearance of six men from Karachi.
A division bench, comprising justices Irfan Saadat Khan and Zafar Ahmed Rajput, also directed the chairperson of the provincial task force for the missing persons to probe into the disappearance of two men. The two judges passed these directions while exclusively hearing the missing persons' cases.
They directed the Artillery Maidan police station SHO to record the statement of Muhammad Ameen Khan and register an FIR against the Rangers personnel, if any cognisable offence is made out against them. Khan claimed that the paramilitary personnel took away his 31-year-old brother, Muhammad Farhan Khan, from Atrium Mall where he went shopping on January 15 this year.
Another petitioner, Nazar Gul, claimed his brother, Saeed Gul, and another relative, Essar Muhammad, were taken into custody by the paramilitary force's personnel from outside his residence on September 14, 2015. Saeed had returned from Saudi Arabia after two years to attend his brother's wedding, he added.
Upon hearing the court orders, the Rangers law officer requested for time to file comments regarding Saeed's detention or arrest by the paramilitary force. Allowing time till May 16, the bench ordered the SHO to record the petitioner's statement and lodge an FIR.
Meanwhile, Maulana Imam Hussain claimed that plainclothes personnel of law enforcement agencies took away his son, Hafiz Arifullah, from their house on March 14 this year along with his cellphone and a licensed pistol.
The petitioner told the judges that, due to a misunderstanding, he moved an application with the Docks SHO that he will not further pursue the matter but now he wants to file charges as his son has yet to be recovered. The bench ordered Docks SHO to record his statement and register an FIR.
Another petitioner Ahmed Zada accused the Rangers personnel of detaining his son, Muhammad Younus Khan, on January 5 last year during a raid at a marble factory in Manghopir, where he worked. Neither the police nor the Rangers authorities shared any information about the detainee, who continues to stay in custody without any legal justification, he claimed.
In this case, the Rangers law officer denied arresting or detaining Khan. The judges ordered the relevant SHO to record Ahmed Zada's statement and subsequently lodge an FIR.
The judges also directed the SHO to record the statement of Shagufta Parveen and register an FIR of her husband's alleged detention. Parveen claimed that the law enforcers had taken her husband into custody from their Malir City residence on December 25 last year, but they have no idea of his whereabouts. The law enforcers have failed to share any information despite several requests, she said.
All the SHOs were directed to submit their compliance reports by May 16 when the cases will be taken up once again.
Probe orders for task force
Meanwhile, the same bench directed the chairperson of the provincial task force to probe into two cases of alleged disappearances of Arshad and Sagheer Ahmed, who have been missing since 2013. The two judges asked the task force's chief to submit a report after the sub-divisional police officers of Garden and Korangi stations failed to make any headway in efforts to recover the two men.
Arshad's father had accused the Rangers personnel of taking him into custody from Islamic Compound, Hashmi Masjid, in Usmanabad on March 10, 2013. Moreover, Khursheed Jahan had accused unidentified law enforcers of taking her husband, Sagheer Ahmed, into custody on November 28, 2013 from Korangi 2.5.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 26th, 2016.
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