PESHAWAR, May 24: Eight people allegedly picked up by intelligence agencies a few months ago from the city and other areas of the province resurfaced over the last one week.

Their stories are same as all were picked by unidentified people and none of them had been produced before any court of law. They were kept incommunicado till their release.

However, their names have been mentioned in a petition filed by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and will be heard by the Supreme Court along with other identical petitions pertaining to “forced disappearances”.

The released persons include three Afghan relatives, Sharifullah, Fazalullah and Samiullah. Others are Khyal Jamal, Saqlain and Nisar of Dara Adamkhel and Hazrat Mohammad and Qari Subhanullah of Peshawar.

Family members said that they were silent about what happened to them in custody. The only thing they told their family was that their captors kept asking them about their links with Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Relatives of the three Afghans said that they had been picked by an intelligence agency in Nov 2006 from a registration centre for Afghans in Kohat.

They said that Fazalullah and Samiullah, both nephews of Sharifullah, were student of a local seminary and lived in the Gamgol Sharif refugee camp. They were released four days ago.

Khyal Jamal, Saqlain and Nisar were taken into custody from the Bazidkhel area when they were coming from Dara Adamkhel. Their family said Nisar was ill and Khyal Jamal, Saqlain were taking him to a doctor in Peshawar. They have been missing since January.

Hazrat Mohammad has been missing since January and reached home four days ago. He is a resident of Naudia Payan and was allegedly picked up from the Board bazaar.

Qari Subhanullah was arrested on Jan 14 and was released on Monday. He is administrator of the Iqra Rozatul Atfal, a religious educational institution.