LHC gives police till Oct 26 to produce Sheikh Rashid

RPO tells court CPO, SSP Operations or police officials not involved in former interior minister's arrest

RAWALPINDI:

The Lahore High Court's (LHC) Rawalpindi bench gave police until October 26 on Thursday to produce former interior minister Sheikh Rashid in court.

The ultimatum, given by Judge Sadaqat Ali Khan, came during the hearing of a plea seeking the recovery of Awami Muslim League chief and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ally since his arrest from Islamabad on September 17.

During today's hearing, the Regional Police Officer (RPO) told the court that the CPO, SSP Operations or police officials were not involved in Rashid's arrest.

The court granted the police's request seeking more time to produce the AML chief after it was told that they were making efforts to recover the politician.

"The former interior minister should be produced in court at the next hearing," the judge observed.

Read 'Rashid arrested from ICT limits,' Pindi Police claim ignorance

'Last chance'

At the last hearing, held earlier this month, the court had given a final deadline to the Pindi RPO for recovering the AML chief.

It also ordered the RPO to take strict legal action with an inquiry against the City Police Officer, the SSP Operations, DSP Mirza Javed and SHOs of Waris Khan, New Town, Civil Lines and Westridge police stations in the case of the disappearance of the former home minister.

The RPO was to submit his report to the court in this regard today.

A month has passed since the former security czar went ‘missing’ from the federal capital along with his nephew and a domestic servant with concerns for his safety growing with each passing day.

Earlier this month, the LHC’s Rawalpindi Bench directed the relevant authorities to produce the former interior minister ‘within a week’. During the hearing, the LHC gave Rawalpindi police a “last chance” to recover the AML chief.