PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday issued notices to the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and the inspector general of police (IGP) in a petition regarding the alleged unlawful detention of a citizen in Kohat by CTD and police personnel.
PHC Chief Justice SM Attique Shah remarked that it was hard to believe that a person could go missing from an SHO’s jurisdiction without the police being aware of it. “The footage is clear and the faces are visible. How can you not know them?” the chief justice observed, adding that the CCTV footage would be sent to the IGP for identification.
The case was heard by a single-member bench headed by the chief justice. The CTD in-charge of Kohat, SHO of Bilitang Police Station, Additional Advocate General Naumanul Haq Kakakhel, and counsel for the petitioner appeared before the court.
Counsel for petitioner Tahir Farid informed the court that his client was taken into custody from his house around midnight during a raid allegedly carried out by local police and CTD personnel. He said the police had initially informed the family about the raid but were now denying knowledge of the incident.
The petitioner’s lawyer also presented CCTV footage before the court. Upon viewing the footage, the chief justice questioned the SHO whether he could identify the individuals seen in the videos.
The SHO told the court that he did not recognize any of the persons shown in the footage and claimed they were not police officials. In response, the chief justice remarked that the faces in the footage were clearly visible and questioned how the police could fail to identify them.
“How is it possible that someone disappears from an SHO’s area and he remains unaware of it?” the chief justice asked.The court directed the SHO to carefully review the videos in coordination with the Advocate General’s Office and reappear before the court.
When proceedings resumed, CTD senior law officer Zafar Abbas Mirza, the SHO of Bilitang Police Station, and the missing person’s brother appeared before the bench.The CTD’s senior law officer told the court that the individuals seen in the CCTV footage could not be identified, adding that the allegedly missing person had remained in contact with his wife and mother.
The chief justice directed the police to obtain call data records (CDR) and assist the court. He further ordered the police to submit a complete report and inform the court if the missing person was involved in any criminal activity.
