Another KU student whisked away

Man and his younger brother were allegedly picked up by law enforcers in plainclothes

KARACHI: Personnel in plainclothes along with policemen in uniform picked up on Thursday a student of the University of Karachi (KU) and his younger brother from their house in District East.

Mumtaz Sajidi, a final year student of the varsity’s international relations masters' programme, and his younger brother Kamran Sajidi, who recently completed his intermediate, were picked by plainclothes personnel during a predawn raid at their residence in Madu Goth near KU. The family hails from the Khuzdar district of Balochistan.

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Sindh Vice-Chairperson Asad Iqbal Butt strongly condemned the incident. "At one time personnel of the police and intelligence agencies feared doing such things. They did not wear their uniforms but now they are brave and also wear uniforms while committing such kidnappings,” said Butt. “Now they do not fear anyone.” He said that a petition about the incident has been filed while a case would also be registered soon, adding that Mumtaz was active in the social activities but had no links to any Baloch nationalist organisation.

Haji Iqbal, who is the acting incharge of the Gulistan-e-Jauhar police station, said no one has approached the police to register an FIR so far. "It has yet to be ascertained who picked them up and why," said the officer.



"Someone from the Counter-Terrorism Department or Crime Investigation Agency could have been behind the incident, as our police station’s officers are not involved." He said that they would register a case if the family approached them.

This is a second such incident to have occurred in the past few months, as earlier Sagheer, a second-year student at KU’s political science department, was having tea near the varsity’s visual studies department November 20 when several persons showed up in a car and two motorcycles and whisked him away.