IHC refuses to close case despite return of ‘missing person’

ISLAMABAD: The Isla­mabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday refused to close the case of a ‘missing person’ thou­­gh he retu­r­ned home prior to the hearing of a petition seeking his recovery.
Justice Babar Sattar is­­sued notices to heads of the Inter-Services Intel­li­gence (ISI), Military Intel­ligence (MI), Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Fed­eral Investigation Agency (FIA) on the petition filed by the father of Faizan, who had been missing since July, and sought a detailed report on the matter within seven days.
At the outset, the judge was informed that the missing person had reached back home. However, he said the case would not be closed and directed the intelligence agencies to trace the vehicles involved in his alleged ‘abduction’.

Justice Sattar also expressed dissatisfaction over police performance, as when police were inquired about the investigation the court was told that a video uploaded on the internet showed Faizan leaving his home on his own.
The judge expressed displeasure and said the police were required to investigate how the video was uploaded, who took him away and summoned Inspector General of Islamabad Police Nasir Ali Rizvi.
The capital police chief then informed the court that he had spoken to the heads of intelligence agencies as well as the PTA and sought call details record of two phone numbers. He said the data was being examined, while the Internet Protocol Detail Record was also awaited.
The high court was ap­­prised that Faizan Usman reached back home in August, after which the investigation team visited his home, but his father did not allow them to meet him.
According to the petition, his son was taken away by men in plainclothes and some in black uniform without a warrant on July 5. The petition said that the abductors claimed they belong to the CTD police.
Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2024