March 19, 2002	Tuesday	Muharram 4, 1423

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RAWALPINDI, March 18: A bailiff deputed by the Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi bench, on Monday recovered five persons from “private lock-up” of the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Bank here.

Justice Ali Nawaz Chowhan directed that regional director and assistant collector, revenue, of the SME bank should be produced on Tuesday to explain under what authority the bank had established its own jail, hinting that he might order that the bank officials should be sent to the “real jail”.

Petitioner Afsar Janjua stated that on Feb 21, his car was intercepted by a jeep on Cricket Stadium Road, when he was taking his ailing wife for treatment. He said an SME general manager and recovery officer, accompanied by four persons, pushed him in their jeep. He said that his car and ailing wife remained unattended on the road.

He said he was taken to the Waqar Plaza in Saddar and told that he was defaulter of the bank.

The petitioner claimed that he had never applied for, or received any loan from the bank. He stated that during his confinement he was told that the SME bank had to recover Rs366,609 loan secured in his name.

He stated that his son had obtained loan from the Small Business and Finance Corporation. The petitioner stated that he, being the guarantor, had paid all the outstanding amount in 1995, and he produced the bank record to show that the loan had been adjusted on Aug 31, 1995.

The petitioner stated that one of his relatives, a retired army officer, had to pay Rs50,000 to the bank and submit the registry of his house and registration of the car for securing his release.

Justice Chowhan sent a court bailiff with Advocate Zulfikar Khalid Maluka to the SME bank in Saddar to ascertain the facts. The bailiff reported to the court that there was a lock-up in the bank building with a name-plate inscribed personal lock-Up (Zati Tehvilgah).

He reported that SME officials had acknowledged that the petitioner was arrested. He said five persons were in the lock-up, Amjad Mehmood, Farid Ali Qureshi, Abdul Shakoor, Imtiaz Ahmad and Malik Ali Mohammad Awan.

The bailiff stated that the detainees told him that they were kept in the jail as they could not pay the whole loan which they had obtained but were ready to pay in instalments.

The court sent the bailiff with the police to recover the detained persons and bring the bank officials. The bailiff brought the detainees but the officials escaped. The court set the detainees free.

The case will be taken up again on Tuesday.