PESHAWAR: A man whose three sons have died under mysterious circumstances in a notified internment centre in Kohat told the Peshawar High Court on Wednesday that he did not want to pursue his case as his remaining three sons were in custody of the security forces and they might also be harmed.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Malik Manzoor Hussain and Justice Ikramullah Khan was told by the man, Nek Badshah, and his counsel Gul Nazir that his three missing sons and four nephews were still in the custody of security forces and he feared that if he charged any official for the deaths of his other sons the detainees could also face the same fate.

The bench asked the counsel that he should provide names of the officials who they suspected of being involved in the deaths of the three detainees –Barkat Shah, Tahir Shah and Bakhtawar Shah. However, the counsel stated that the elder petitioner was not interested in punishing any of those officials and his only concern was now the safety of his detained sons and nephews.

The counsel informed the bench that earlier the names of the killed detainees were given in a list – provided to the high court – of those persons who were interned in different internment centres. Later, he stated that a representative of the ministry of defence expressed ignorance about them. However, he added that on the order of the high court the petitioner submitted an application to the Kohat commissioner, seeking visitation rights to meet his sons.

He said that in May this year instead of allowing his meeting with his sons he was asked by some officials to visit them in Kohat and also bring three coffins with him. The counsel stated that when Mr Badshah visited Kohat he was handed over bodies of his sons. The bodies, he said, were carrying visible marks of severe torture.

The petitioner, who is around 70, told mediapersons that the security forces during a raid on his residence on Dec 12, 2012 had taken away his six sons and four nephews, following which they went missing. He said that he was now the only male member left in the family and feared that the other detainees might be harmed by the law enforcing agencies.

After the refusal of the petitioner to charge any officer for the deaths of his sons the bench adjourned hearing of the case till Sept 29.

Meanwhile, the bench summoned the provincial home secretary in a contempt of court petition after his failure to submit the postmortem report of an internee who had died at the internment centre in Kohat.

The bench ordered that the secretary should appear in person on Sept 29 and explain why he had not complied with its orders.

The petition was filed on behalf of two missing persons, Musafir and Arif Khan, by one of their relatives who alleged that they were taken into custody by the local police on July 25, 2011 near Haji Camp, Peshawar, following which they remained missing.

It was stated that over a month ago one of the detainee, Musafir, was found dead at Kohat internment centre following which the high court had ordered the home secretary to produce his autopsy report.

Similarly, about another detainee, Wilayat Shah, his counsel informed the bench that he had also died recently at Kohat internment centre. The petition is filed by one Mohammad Noor, father of the detainee, who stated that his son was arrested in 2012 from Hayatabad Township while he was travelling in his car.

His counsel told the bench that recently the petitioner had given an application to the administration to allow him to meet his son, but instead he was informed to come and collect his body from the said centre.

He added that the petitioner had now requested that at least his vehicle and money taken from him should be returned to him. The court adjourned hearing of the case till Oct 6.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2014