Court proceedings: SHC summons additional home secretary

The orders were issued in an ongoing missing persons case

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) summoned the additional home secretary to file comments on a petition seeking the whereabouts of two missing persons.

Muhammad Bilal and Muhammad Sajid went missing on February 13 from Azizabad in Karachi.

A focal person of the home department appeared before the court and stated that the additional home secretary was unable to appear in the hearing due to other commitments. The SHC bench, headed by Sadiq Hussain Bhatti, directed the secretary to appear at the next hearing on August 27 and file his comments.

A Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report was submitted to the court, according to which both persons are still missing. The copy of the JIT report was provided to the learned counsel.

Bilal’s father filed a petition in which he had claimed that his son, Bilal, and nephew, Sajid, were picked up by the Rangers in a raid conducted at their house on February 13 and they are missing since then. The petitioner named Sindh government, the Rangers director-general, Sindh IG and Azizabad police station SHO as respondents.

He claimed Bilal and Sajid were innocent and were not involved in any criminal activity. According to the petitioner, he went to the relevant police station to find out whereabouts of his son and nephew, but he ended up in court.

The petitioner prayed the court direct the respondents to produce Bilal and Sajid before the court and disclose the reason behind their detention.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 23^rd, 2015.