Court seeks report on missing PTI activist

Police say no one from PTI came to report Siddiqui's disappearance

KARACHI:

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday directed the police to submit a report on the petition for the recovery of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) social media activist Fahad Jamal Siddiqui and to register a case on the matter. A two-member bench headed by Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto heard the plea.

"Why hasn't Siddiqui's disappearance been officially reported?" Justice Phulpoto questioned, at which the petitioner's attorney claimed that the police were not assisting them. However, the investigation officer said that no one from the PTI went to the precinct to report Siddiqui's disappearance.

Justice Phulpoto ordered the petitioner to visit the Aziz Bhatti police station today (Friday) to file the report of Siddiqui's disappearance and directed the police to submit a progress report on April 19.

Plea disposed

Separately, Justice Phulpoto disposed of the missing person plea pertaining to PTI social media activists Muhammad Arshad Siddiqui and Mudassar Rehman after they returned home.

The PTI counsel said Arshad and Rehman were dealing with post-traumatic stress and requested the court to order the relevant SHO to record the returned PTI workers' statements.

The judge ordered the workers to report to Aziz Bhatti police station and record their statements.

Meanwhile, the same bench heard the petition for the recovery of Sameer Khan Afridi and others, who have been missing for seven years, and sought a report on detention centres in the country.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 7^th, 2023.