LHC summons police in case of missing peace activist

On the day of his disappearance, Raza Mehmood Khan had spoken at forum on militancy

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday summoned the Naseerabad SHO investigating the case of a missing rights activist to appear at the next hearing on Dec 19.

Raza Mehmood Khan, 40, a member of Aghaz-i-Dosti (Start of Friendship) group that works to build peace between Pakistan and India had been picked up from his residence in Model Colony earlier this month. The area falls under the ambit of the Naseerabad Police Station.



He has not been heard from since Dec 2 and his family filed a writ of habeas corpus in the court in the belief he has been unlawfully detained, a lawyer acting for his family said.

Justice Anwarul Haq, while taking up the petition filed by the missing activist’s brother Hamid Nasir Mahmood, directed the police officer concerned to appear before the court on the date of hearing and apprise it of the investigation conducted so far.

As the proceedings commenced, the counsel for the petitioner implored that Khan had been abducted by unknown persons, contending that the detenu used to hold talks between Indian and Pakistani children through Skype.

“We fear that Raza has been detained by intelligence agencies,” the counsel said.

He told the court that an FIR had been registered in the police station against the abduction but the police had done nothing for his recovery.



He said the detenu had been missing since December 2 but the police seemed to be clueless about his whereabouts and prayed the court to pass directive to the police to recover the detenu.

The court after hearing preliminary arguments summoned the Naseerabad SHO along with a detailed reply on December 19.

On the day of his disappearance, Khan had spoken at a forum on militancy. "Everyone discussed their views and, of course, Raza was very critical," said a friend, Rahim-ul-Haq.