PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday directed the defence ministry to submit reply to an Indian woman’s petition against the enforced disappearance of her son from Kohat around three years ago.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Irshad Qaisar directed deputy attorney general Mussaratullah Khan to ensure that the defence ministry submit reply of the Military Intelligence regarding the alleged illegal detention of the Indian national, Hamid Nehal Ansari.

It adjourned hearing into the petition of Fauzia Ansari, mother of the detainee, to Nov 12.

Qazi Mohammad Anwar, lawyer for the petitioner, said the woman, Zeenat Shehzadi, who was the petitioner’s attorney through whom the petition was filed, had been kidnapped under mysterious circumstances. He said certain quarters had conveyed to him that he had been pleading the case of an agent of RAW, Indian intelligence agency.

DAG tells court MI needs time for ‘ground checking’ to trace detainee

The lawyer said according to the police report, the detainee had prepared a fake identity card by the name of Hamza before coming to Kohat.

He said the police and Intelligence Bureau took the Indian citizen into custody from a hotel in Nov 2012 and that since then, his client hadn’t heard anything about him. Qazi Anwar said his client had been traumatised for three years and that she wanted to know where her son was and if he was alive.

He said if the detainee had entered Pakistan on fake national identity card or passport, he should be prosecuted for that instead of being kept in illegal detention for indefinite period.

DAG Mussaratullah Khan said the MI had sought some time for ‘ground checking’ to trace the detainee.

He said the reply would be filed by it after that checking.

Similarly, additional advocate general Qaisar Ali Shah said the Kohat district police officer and other officials had submitted their respective comments in the case.

The petitioner said her son was an educated person and had gone to Afghanistan in search of job.

She claimed that her son became friends with a Pakistani woman through social media and entered Pakistan to meet her.

During a previous hearing, then SHO of police station (Kohat Development Authority) Faizullah Khan had filed a statement saying a suspected person was arrested by the police’s rider squad on Nov 14, 2012 on the information provided by Intelligence Bureau inspector Naeem Khan.

He had said the suspect was interrogated by inspector Ibrahimullah Khan and that a fake identity card carrying the name of Hamza was recovered from him.

The SHO had alleged that the suspect was later taken away by ISI and MI personnel.

Published in Dawn, October 14th , 2015

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