Pakistan

Extortion? IHC issues notices to interior secretary, IGP

Petitioner Mustafa Khokhar claims he was not given security despite verified threats.

Our Correspondent May 03, 2014

The petitioner’s counsel maintained that previously, people with same political background had been kidnapped and were yet to be recovered. PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday issued notices to the interior secretary and the Inspector General of the Islamabad Police (IGP) on a petition filed by a Pakistan Peoples Party member requesting protection against extortionists.

Justice Noorul Haq N Qureshi issued notices to the two senior bureaucrats to reply on the next hearing, a date for which will be set by the court registrar. The petition was filed by Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, former advisor on human rights to the president, and former PPP deputy secretary information. Khokar has claimed that he and his family are receiving extortion threats from a banned outfit.

Earlier this week, Khokhar was booked by the Industrial Area police for carrying prohibited weapons without permission. Soon after, he obtained bail from a local court.

The counsel for the petitioner informed the court that his client has received threats after he refused to pay extortion. Alongside his petition, the counsel has also attached a threat warning issued by Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) in June 2013. The same warning was also circulated by the National Crisis Management Cell.

According to the petitioner, miscreants are planning to target Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar and Faizabad-based industrialists Aslam Khaliq and Atif Kiani through explosion at their houses.

The threat warning said the three men were being targeted for refusing to pay the extortionists.

The petitioner’s counsel maintained that previously, people with same political background including Shahbaz Taseer and Ali Haider Gillani had been kidnapped and were yet to be recovered. He informed that court that his client has already informed the authorities of the threats, but no steps were taken to provide them with security.

He requested the court to direct the respondents to provide round-the-clock security to his client, his two brothers, and their father, former National Assembly deputy speaker Nawaz Khokhar.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 4^th, 2014.