The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed a provincial law officer and the Rangers’s special prosecutor to ascertain the whereabouts of a former Muttahida Qaumi Movement MNA and his son.
The direction came on a petition of Mansoor Nisar who had submitted in the plea that his father Nisar Ahmed Panhwar and brother Mohsin Panhwar were taken away by personnel of law enforcement agencies from the Saudabad area on September 16 and December 18, last year, respectively.
He submitted that his father was earlier released from illegal captivity of 87 days and his brother was also earlier kept in illegal detention. He said that police were informed about the incident but no action had been taken so far for the recovery of the missing persons.
A counsel for the petitioner submitted that despite a lapse of months, neither were the police ascertaining the whereabouts of the missing persons nor disclosing their arrest. The counsel submitted that they had provided the vehicle number of the law enforcement agencies in which the missing persons were allegedly taken away.
The high court was requested to direct the police and law enforcement agencies to locate the missing persons and provide details of cases if they were required in any case. A provincial law officer and Rangers’ special prosecutor sought more time to verify and ascertain the whereabouts of the missing persons.
A division bench of the SHC headed by Justice Mohammad Saleem Jessar directed the law officers to submit their comments with regard to the whereabouts of the missing persons on the next hearing.
In another matter with regard to enforced disappearances of Kashif Ali Mari Baloch and Mohammad Sheraz Haider, the high court was informed that sufficient time had passed but the investigators could not trace the missing persons.
The SHC directed the Bin Qasim police to record statements of the petitioner and submit a copy of the FIR before the court. The high court also directed the home department to constitute a joint investigation team for the recovery of the missing persons and submit a progress report.
