RAWALPINDI - Lahore High Court (LHC), Rawalpindi bench, on Monday sought report from inspector general of police (IGP) Punjab within two weeks in a missing person case.
Taking up the case of missing Khan Badshah, Justice Ibad-ur-Rehman directed IGP Punjab Khan Baig to inform the court in writing what police had done so far in the case.
The IGP informed the court that a police team headed by an SP had been interrogating the case. The city police officer (CPO) was supervising the investigation team, he added.
Meanwhile, Intelligence Bureau (IB) Director General Aftab Sultan and Defence Secretary Asif Yasin Malik also appeared before the court. However, DGs of ISI and MI did not appear in the court owing to security concerns.
Aftab Sultan told the court that Khan Badshah, a resident of Waziristan, was not in IB’s custody and the bureau had been investigating the case. “So far, no breakthrough is made,” he mentioned.
Sardar Taufeeq Asif Advocate, counsel for petitioner, raised objections over absence of heads of ISI and MI, saying both did not appear despite court’s orders. He maintained that no positive development had been made for the last one year. Deputy Attorney General Tariq Khokhar said that a commission was already working on missing persons.
Justice Rahman asked under what law the commission was formed and to which extent it could implement its decisions. “The commission can only give recommendations,” the court added.
The court also remarked that a brother of the missing person stated after his release that they were picked up by ISI.
The court ordered IGP Punjab Khan Baig to submit a report on April 23 about the status of the missing person. The court also ordered the other intelligence agencies to assist police in investigations.
Sardar Taufeeq Asif while talking to media persons said that Khan Badshah was detained from heavily guarded Wah Cannt where no body could even enter without proper identification. “Dr Nek Badshah, brother of Khan Badshah, who was also picked up, recorded a statement after his release in which he even identified the place where he was kept and told how they were interrogated by an intelligence agency,” he said.