Report sought on detention in foreign women's case

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday sought a report from the SHO of Defence-C police station on a plea against detention of a suspect in a case of alleged rape and abduction of two foreign women.

Justice Abher Gul adjourned the proceedings till July 20 after hearing the habeas corpus petition filed by the mother of the suspect, Waheed Tahir.

Representing the petitioner, Advocate Rana Intizar Hussain argued that the police had taken away Tahir from his home on July 3 but not produced him before any court to date.

He submitted that under the law, an arrested person must be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours.

The counsel informed the court that he had received information suggesting that the man was admitted to the Services Hospital.

Justice Gul asked the petitioner's counsel what relief he was seeking.

The counsel replied that the police had kept the suspect in illegal custody and requested the court to order an end to his unlawful detention and his release.

The petition named the inspector general of Punjab Police, jail superintendent and other officials as respondents.

In another development, a judicial magistrate extended the physical remand of four suspects by four days in the case.

Judicial Magistrate Azhar Mehmood passed the order while hearing a police request for further physical remand.

The suspects, Raza Dar, Sikandar Khan, Sajid Khan and Hassan Raza, were produced before the court after the expiry of their five-day physical remand.

Meanwhile, the opposition called for impartial application of the law in the case. Addressing a news conference, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Lahore President Mian Akram Usman, Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Ayin Pakistan (TTAP) Punjab Information Secretary Shayan Bashir and other leaders described the case as a test of the government's commitment to impartial law enforcement.

They called for the production in courts of every person nominated in the first information report (FIR), protection of a magistrate related to the matter and timely placing the investigation's progress on the court record.