Petition against agencies dismissed

RAWALPINDI:

An additional district and sessions judge (ADSJ) here on Saturday dismissed an application seeking registration of criminal cases against the heads of two intelligence agencies. Earlier a man allegedly in the custody of the agencies had died.

ADSJ Chaudhry Naveed Iqbal dismissed the petition filed by Abdul Shakoor, brother of the deceased Abdul Saboor, seeking registration of kidnapping and murder cases against the ISI chief, MI chief and Adiala Jail officials.

In his petition, Shakoor said his brothers Abdul Saboor, Abdul Basit and Abdul Majid were picked up by agencies on November 25, 2007.

Later, they were tried in court for their alleged involvement in the terrorist attacks on an ISI bus in Rawalpindi, suicide attack in GHQ and firing a rocket attack on Pakistan Aeronautical Complex in Kamra. In April 2010, the three brothers were acquitted.

However, instead of being released, the brothers, along with eight others, were taken away by intelligence agencies from Adiala Jail on May 29, 2010.

On January 30, 2012, his family was informed that Saboor’s condition was bad. Later that day, his body was handed over to the family at Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar.

The petitioner alleged his brother was tortured to death. He also said that Saboor’s wife wrote a letter to the chief of army staff but no action was taken by military authorities.

Responding to the petition, the station house officer of Saddar Bairuni police stated that an abduction case had already been registered against jail officials. A murder case, if ordered by court, would have to be registered in Peshawar, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 22^nd, 2012.