Pakistan HC directs police to find missing student

Pakistan's Sindh High Court on Monday directed the police to find the whereabouts of a missing student of NED University of Engineering and Technology and present him in court amid rising cases of enforced disappearances in Pakistan.

A petition was filed by Abdul Moiz Khan which stated that several unidentified armed personnel arrived in police vans and other vehicles, raided his house in Federal B Area on June 3, and picked up his son Abdur Rehman Khan adding that his whereabouts are still unknown, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The case was heard by a two-judge bench headed by Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro who ordered the police the record the statement of the petitioner after his lawyer mentioned that the police were not registering a First information report (FIR).

A police officer told the bench that the probe would be carried out by an officer who is not below the rank of a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP).

The bench directed the investigating officer to find the alleged detainee till August 9 after completing all the formalities.

Petitioner Abdul Moiz Khan stated that his son was a mechanical engineer who is currently pursuing his master's degree from NED University of Engineering and Technology.

The police refused to file a case and he approached a court session to get an FIR registered, Dawn reported citing the petitioner.

The petitioner also mentioned that his son went missing on January 12 as well while he was visiting his relatives in Taxila.

An FIR was lodged by the local police, and he filed a writ petition in the Lahore High Court in Rawalpindi.

The Lahore court ordered the police for the recovery of his son, it added.

The petitioner mentioned that he withdrew his petition after his son was released by the unknown captors in Hasan Abdaal on February 2.

A DSP informed the court that an FIR had been lodged regarding the same and a copy of the same was also presented, but the lawyer of the petitioner said that the FIR was not lodged as per the petitioner's verbatim.

The police officer assured the bench that if the petitioner appeared before the police, his statement will be recorded accordingly, the local media reported.

A recent report unveiled by the US revealed that over 8000 people were missing in the country during 2021 including 1,200 missing in Sindh province in the last six months.

Enforced disappearances are used as a tool by Pakistani authorities to terrorize people who question the all-powerful army establishment of the country, or seek individual or social rights. Cases of enforced disappearances have been majorly recorded in the Balochistan and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces of the country which host active separatist movements.