Missing person case: Court asks defence secretary to submit report by August 23

Sajid Mehmood was picked up from Sector F-10 some four months back

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court directed the defence ministry secretary to submit personally a detailed report in a case pertaining to ‘enforced disappearance’ of a man after the ministry and two intelligence agencies failed to comply with previous court orders.

While expressing displeasure over the failure of the ministry, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) in submitting the report, Justice Athar Minallah directed the secretary to submit the report by August 23.

Meanwhile, the Shalimar police station in-charge informed the court that since the complaint clearly pointed towards the state authorities, the police had written letters to the officials of jails and internment centres to share information about Sajid Mehmood’s whereabouts. However, the SHO added, none of them has replied yet.

An IB representative submitted a report before the court stating it has nothing to do with the case as the bureau does not have any legal authority to arrest people.

The petitioner, Mahera Sajid, through her counsel Umer Gilani alleged that her husband, Sajid Mehmood, was “abducted from their home in F-10/1 amid circumstance which strongly suggests that this is a case of enforced disappearance.”

She has made the secretaries of defence and interior ministries, Inspector-General of the Islamabad Police, chiefs of IB, ISI, Military Intelligence and the Shalimar Police Station SHO respondents in the case.

While expressing lack of satisfaction over a report submitted by the interior ministry, the court had ordered some respondents to submit a detailed report in the case.

In its report, the ministry said that investigation was under way and the SP, Saddar, has been deputed to carry out an investigation into the case.

The petition seeks recovery of Mehmood, a father of three girls, who went missing from his residence on March 14, 2016.

He said on March 14, around eight men barged into the petitioner’s house in Sector F-10/1 and took away Sajid.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 19^th, 2016.