LAHORE: A property dealer who had been pursuing litigation in the Lahore High Court against a religious organisation’s self-styled ‘Shariat Court’ was briefly kidnapped, intoxicated and threatened by two unidentified men on his way to the court on Tuesday.

“I was heading to the high court on my motorcycle when two bearded men intercepted me near Samanabad’s first roundabout. One of them took control of the bike, while the other sat behind me before heading towards Miani Sahib graveyard,” Khalid Saeed told this scribe in a weak voice, lying on a bed of Services Hospital’s emergency ward, with blood marks on his clothes.

A ‘Shariat Court’ established by Jamatud Dawa (JuD) had summoned Mr Saeed on the ‘complaint’ of his former partner in a property business, alleging misappropriation of his investment. Saeed had filed a writ petition in the LHC against the summons issued to him by the JuD ‘court’.

The court had heard the petition and directed provincial home secretary to look into the matter and decide it strictly in accordance with law after hearing version of the petitioner.

Mr Saeed filed an intra-court appeal against the order that was fixed for hearing before a division bench on Tuesday.

However, his counsel Advocate Maqbool Sheikh sought a short adjournment from the bench due to the incident.

Mr Saeed said the kidnappers forced him to drink a glass of juice before throwing him near the Ghazi Ilamuddin’s shrine in semi-conscious state.

“I could only called a friend for help before passing out,” Mr Saeed said, adding the duo kept threatening him of dire consequences if he did not withdraw the cases and reconcile the matter.

He was later shifted to the Services Hospital where doctors treated him in emergency ward. “We have washed his (Saeed’s) stomach and sent the samples of the retrieved fluid to laboratory for a detailed examination,” a doctor in the emergency ward said.

Personnel from the police-post at the hospital visited the victim and reported the incident to police station concerned.

Later a sub-inspector from Lyyton Road police station visited Saeed at the hospital and recorded his statement. He told the victim that the first information report (FIR) of the incident would be lodged after issuance of laboratory report of the sample.

Lahore DIG (operations) Dr Haider Ashraf said he was not aware of the incident yet and sought time for his official response. Later calls made to his mobile phone remained unanswered.

The Qazi (judge) of “Dar-ul-Qaza Sharia” established by the religious organisation had summoned Mr Saeed to it’s headquarters at Chauburji to defend himself against the allegations leveled in the complaint. However, the property dealer never obeyed the ‘order’ and instead approached the LHC for remedy.

The organisation had denied establishing any court, saying it offered arbitration only and resolved disputes in the light of Shariah.

It argues that offering arbitration to disputing parties was not illegal.

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2016