Missing persons case: PHC orders inquiry afresh

Says DNA tests should be conducted to confirm the identity of deceased persons.

PESHAWAR:

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has ordered a fresh inquiry to trace a man, who disappeared after a blast in Pipal Mandi in Peshawar in 2009, during a hearing of the missing persons’ cases on Wednesday.

Natool Khan’s name was not listed amongst the casualties and his family is still clueless about his whereabouts. The body could not be identified and was buried without a DNA test, DSP Bashir informed the court.

PHC Chief Justice (CJ) Dost Muhammad Khan asked why the provincial government did not have the facility to conduct DNA tests to inform legal heirs about their dead relatives so they could be buried in their ancestral graveyards.

Deputy Attorney General Iqbal Mohmand informed the court that the province did not have enough experts.

A divisional bench comprising the CJ and Justice Malik Azmatullah ordered the Badber police to register Abdul Wali Khan’s case after the ministry of interior denied he was picked up.

According to the petitioner, Abdul Ghani, his brother had gone missing from Badber.

Mohmand informed the court that Kalimullah, who went missing from Angoor Koruna had reached home.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 23^rd, 2012.