Death in custody: Internment centre chief issued arrest warrant

Two-judge bench of PHC also decides to attach the official’s salary

PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday issued a bailable arrest warrant for the official in charge of the Lakki Marwat internment centre. The warrant was issued for failing to comply with earlier orders to appear in court and provide a death certificate to a detainee’s bereaved family.

A two-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Muhammad Ghazanfar Khan issued the arrest warrant and also decided to attach the said official’s salary.

The court was hearing the case of Piyo Gul, who had died at Lakki Marwat internment centre on November 28, 2013, but the administration failed to give his death certificate to his family.

During the hearing, the bench was informed by the deceased’s father Gul Mat Khan that his son was picked up on November 3, 2011 and his whereabouts remained unknown for around two years. In November 2013, Lakki Marwat internment centre handed over Gul’s body to the family without any explanation for his death.

Khan told the court that a group of people in the area were now claiming that his son had borrowed money from them.

Moreover, the political administration of Kurram Agency had confiscated Gul’s vehicle and other goods worth Rs0.7 million and was now demanding his death certificate for their return.

During the court proceedings, the chief justice asked whether the office in-charge of Lakki Marwat internment centre was present in court or not. Additional Advocate General Waqar Ahmad Khan informed him that the official had not attended the hearing.

The court then issued a bailable arrest warrant for the in charge and directed his salary also be attached.

The court also sought reports from the then SHO of Chamkani police in the case of Roohullah who was picked up from his house on May 24, 2013 and subsequently granted bail by an anti-terrorism court. When he left Central Prison Peshawar on September 6, 2013, he was picked up by ‘unidentified persons’. His body was later found in Takhta Baig, Khyber Agency on November 20.

The court ordered that the report of the then SHO of Chamkani police should be produced in court before the next date of hearing. It added that Yahya, another detainee, has been missing for a long time. However, the court was informed the oversight board has prepared its report and placed him in black category. The case will be heard on Thursday as the counsel for the petitioner was not present in court.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 19^th, 2014.