Judge abducted on DI Khan’s Tank Road

Kidnappers leave behind security guard and driver; vehicle set ablaze

DERA ISMAIL KHAN/ PESHAWAR:

Sessions Judge Shakirullah Marwat, stationed in South Waziristan, on Saturday was abducted by unidentified kidnappers near a village located at the junction of Tank and Dera districts on Dera Ismail Khan’s Tank Road.

According to sources, the judge was heading from Tank to Dera when unidentified people stopped his vehicle.

They added that the abductors made the judge step out of the vehicle and took him away with them.
They left behind his security guard, driver and the vehicle.

Later, unidentified armed men set his vehicle on fire.

As soon as the incident was reported, the Tank district police officer (DPO) immediately reached the crime scene along with a heavy contingent of cops.

However, there has been no report of the judge’s recovery so far despite the police launching a search operation to track down the kidnappers.

According to the elders of the area, the place from where the judge was abducted, there is a road to leading to Loni town, a remote area of Kalachi tehsil.

A few years ago, this road was blocked by the Kalachi police. However in recent times, the blockade was removed.

Following the incident, the Peshawar High Court summoned the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary, the provincial police chief and the additional chief secretary and ordered them to take immediate as well as effective measures to recover the abducted judge.

A three-judge bench of the PHC comprising its Chief Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim as well as Justices Ijaz Anwar and Syed Muhammad Attique Shah ordered the presence of the relevant authorities.

Following the summon, K-P police chief Akhtar Hayat Khan and Additional Chief Secretary Abid Majeed appeared before the court and informed the judges about the immediate progress on the incident.
They said all resources were being used for the recovery of the abducted judge.

The officials added that as soon as the incident was reported, the relevant regional police officer (RPO), commissioner, DPOs and other security agencies present there were contacted on an emergency basis.

They were directed to take urgent steps for the recovery of the judge and give timely reports to the authorities concerned immediately.

The PHC judges noted that this was a sensitive matter and that was why the recovery of the kidnapped judge must be ensured.

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The additional chief secretary informed the court that he was in touch with all the relevant agencies and the PHC would be informed if there was any positive development.

He added that after the abduction of the judge, he personally monitoring all these developments. The K-P police chief told the court that he had issued instructions to the RPO and DPOs in this connection.

The senior PHC jurists observed that it was the responsibility of the provincial government to provide security to the judges and that was why there should be no negligence in this matter.

They ordered the officials that a report of any progress in the matter should be submitted to the high court’s registrar.

The judges further directed that the security agencies in the area should be contacted on an emergency basis and a report be handed over to the PHC registrar.