KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Wednesday directed the police and Rangers to trace two brothers picked up allegedly by Rangers personnel.

A division bench, headed by Justice Ahmed Ali M. Shaikh, hearing several petitions for the recovery of missing persons also issued notices to the director general of Rangers, inspector general of police and other respondent officials of the law enforcement agencies.

The bench, which included Justice Syed Muhammed Farooq Shah, directed them to furnish their respective comments on the petitions, and put off the hearing to Aug 29.

Farid Khan submitted in his petition that his two sons — Khalid Khan and Awwul Khan — were taken away by police and Rangers personnel during a raid on his home on July 24.

He said he approached the area police to report the matter and to ascertain the whereabouts of his sons, but to no avail as the police feigned ignorance about the incident.

The bench also issued notices to the provincial and federal law officers and the SSP-West directing them to file their respective replies on the matter.

The court directed the respondent officials to recover the missing brothers by the next date of hearing and produce them in court.

Notices to officials

The same bench issued notices to the chief of the Rangers, advocate general, deputy attorney general and SHO of the Steel Mills police station directing them to recover and produce a man who was allegedly arrested by police on Aug 15.

Fareena, wife of Ali Nawaz, stated in the petition that the Steel Mills police arrested her husband and later handed him over to the paramilitary force.

She said she approached the police and Rangers to locate her husband, but in vain. The woman said that there had been no clue to her husband’s whereabouts since his arrest.

The petitioner said her husband was neither involved in any criminal case, nor was he a member of any proscribed organisation.

She asked the court to direct the respondent officials to produce her spouse in court.

The two-judge bench directed the respondent officials to submit their respective replies on the petition, and adjourned the hearing to Sept 2.

Licensed weapons case

The same bench directed the Rangers to record the notification that allowed paramilitary force to seize licensed weapons during a search operation in the city.

The bench gave the direction on a petition filed by Muhammad Nawaz, a farmer of Jam Goth, a centuries-old village in the outskirts of Malir.

The petitioner moved the court through a constitutional petition against Rangers personnel for illegally seizing his two licensed guns.

He stated that Rangers personnel raided his home on Feb12 and took away his two weapons — a Russia-made 12-bore shotgun and a US-made SB 12-bore gun.

The petitioner told the court that he was issued the arms licences in March 1995 by the deputy commission of Malir. He said he kept his arms licence renewed on expiry and added that he got two weapons on that licence which was valid for the province.

He asked the court to direct the paramilitary force to return his weapons, which were illegally seized by them.

Counsel for the Rangers Habib Ahmed told the court that the Rangers were authorised to seize licensed weapons during search operations as the provincial government had issued a notification to that effect.

The judges ordered the Rangers counsel to place on record the relevant notification, and adjourned the hearing to Aug 29.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2014