KARACHI, July 13: The Sindh High Court asked the federal and provincial attorneys on Tuesday to ascertain the whereabouts of city lawyer, alleged to have been arrested by the police on Monday night , and make a definite statement on July 15.

Petitioner Qamar Hameed submitted in his petition filed through advocates Rasheed A. Rizvi, Mohammad Ali Abbasi and Walid Rizvi, that his younger brother, Advocate Sohail Hameed, was picked up last night by several policemen who came in three vans and a Suzuki car.

The vehicles belonged to the Ferozabad and New Town police stations, but they expressed their ignorance about the arrest or detention when approached by the petitioner and other relatives. They said the advocate was not required by them in any case.

The petitioner said the advocate had never been involved in any offence. However, 'some authority or agency appears to be aggrieved by his petitions on constitutional issues'. The arrest and detention were unjustified, unwarranted and unlawful, he said.

The petition was filed late on Tuesday and taking it up promptly, a division bench asked the advocate-general and a deputy attorney-general to ascertain the alleged detainee's whereabouts and inform the court on July 15.

His counsel said he was appearing in a couple of cases on behalf of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement and had questioned a nomination in the upcoming by elections. Advocate Rasheed Rizvi, who is vice-chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council, later strongly condemned the arrest and demanded immediate release of the detained lawyer.

He said the matter would be placed before the joint action committee of the bar representatives due to be held in Lahore. He said the law-enforcement personnel took the lawyer into custody without disclosing their identity or the reason behind his arrest.

The place of detention was also not known. The arrest and detention were violation of the detainee's fundamental rights and a proof 'of the fact that the country was being converted into a police state'.