Demanding justice: Relatives of deceased missing persons protest at press club

Protesters placed bodies on Shershah Suri Road and chanted slogans.

PESHAWAR:

Families of two missing persons, who were found dead on Thursday night, held a protest outside the Peshawar Press Club. 

Relatives of Amjad Khan and Sayed Khan alleged that they were held under illegal custody by the assistant political agent (APA) of Khyber Agency.

Amjad’s father, Saleh Muhammad said that both Amjad and Sayed, who belong to the same family, were taken by the Pahari Pura police personnel in December 2011, and later handed over to the APA who illegally detained them.

The protesters placed the bodies on Shershah Suri Road and chanted slogans against the APA and police personnel. They also appealed to the chief justice of the Peshawar High Court to take notice of the incident and said that the officials have refused to carry out an autopsy of the men.



Fathers of the deceased had filed petitions at the PHC to help release their sons from illegal detention after a former missing person, Sajid Ali, told them that he and Amjad Ali were held captive in the same lockup of APA. On September 19, the court issued a notice to the APA asking him to appear on October 2 and reply to the allegations.

Ali alleged that he had been picked up by the then SHO Hayatabad Fazl-e-Wahid in March who demanded ransom for his release. Ali had connections with influential people in his area. He called them and they managed to have him released on August 16.



However, Iqbal Durrani, counsel for the PA, denied having Amjad in custody during the case hearing in October. He informed the court that they visited APA’s lockup but did not find Amjad there.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st, 2012.