December 10, 2006	Sunday	Ziqa'ad 18, 1427

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HYDERABAD, Dec 9: The Hyderabad circuit bench of the Sindh High court on Saturday expressed its dissatisfaction over a report submitted by CID DIG Syed Zubair Mehmood about the whereabouts of a ‘missing’ Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) activist, Sikandar alias Akash Mallah, who had allegedly been picked up with another JSQM activist by police personnel on May 16.

The other activist Manjhi Chandio was later released but Mr Mallah has been missing since then.

The bench comprising Justice Mohammad Moosa K. Leghari and Justice Maqbool Baqar adjourned the hearing to December 21 and ordered to send a copy of the order to provincial police officer (PPO) Sindh asking police officers to make concerted efforts to make some headway into the case.

They remarked that they did not need to emphasise once again that security and protection of life and liberty of people was fundamental and prime duty of the state.

The DIG’s report said that the activist had neither been arrested, nor detained by any agency of Sindh police and his whereabouts had still been unknown despite best efforts of police. "Serious efforts are being made in this regard by special team consisting of experienced and selected officers," the court was told.

The report was submitted in answer to court’s order on a constitutional petition filed on December 6 by Imran Mallah, nephew of Akash Mallah and Sher Ali, brother of Manjhi Chandio, which requested the court order production of the two JSQM activists in court along with a list of cases pending against them.

The petition said that Sikandar Mallah was a government A-class contractor while Manjhi Chandio was sub-editor at a daily Sindhi newspaper and they both were activists of JSQM.

It said that Mr Mallah and Chandio were present in Chandio Goth of Bhittai Nagar on May 16 when four people tried to kidnap them at gunpoint. When they put up resistance and other people intervened, they fired in the air and fled, the petition said.

Earlier, the SHO of Bhittai Nagar had said in his statement filed on May 25 that Manjhi Chandio was nominated in an FIR 36/05 under section 324 Qisas and Diyat and 353 PPC, 6/7 of Anti-Terrorism Act and he was an absconder.

DPO, too, in his statement had called Mr Manjhi an absconder and the two officials had denied having picked up the activists or handed them over to any military agency.

On August 30 the petitioner's counsel Saqib Majeed had argued that the activists had been granted bail by Sindh High Court in the case the officials were referring to and also produced Mr Chandio in the court, who filed an affidavit, stating that on May 16 he and Mr Mallah were present in Chandio Goth when four armed people tried to kidnap them and fled on their resistance.

A few minutes later DPO of Hyderabad, TPO of Qasimabad and SHO of Bhittai Nagar arrived there and took them away blindfolded in the DPO’s jeep, Mr Chandio said.

But on August 11 some unknown people dropped him near Naseem Nagar Chowk with warning that if he approached the court he would again be picked up, he added.