KARACHI, Aug 3: A sessions court issued on Friday a show-cause notice to the SHO of the Ferozabad police station in what appeared to be an illegal detention case.

A judicial magistrate had raided the Ferozabad police station on July 28 and found two men detained there without any charge, but the police refused to release them and claimed that they had been booked by another police station.

On a previous hearing, the court directed the SHO to furnish evidence if any against the detainees on Aug 3.

However, when the matter came up for hearing before Additional District and Sessions Judge (east) Obaid Ahmed Khan on Friday, the SHO did not appear in court.

The court issued a show-cause notice to the police officer in question to explain till Aug 6 his absence and for not complying with the court order.

On July 30, the magistrate had submitted his report in the sessions court stating that the officials of the police station concerned remained unable to produce anything to justify the detention of the two men and claimed that a case was lodged against them at the PIB Colony police station. “Sufficient time was given to the police to produce the FIR of the alleged case or entry about the arrest, but they neither produced any document nor released them,” said the report.

However, the SHO along with other police officials appeared before the sessions court on July 30 and claimed that the detainees were apprehended by the Brigade police and kept them at the Ferozabad police station since the Brigade police station had no lock-up.

He added that in the meantime the police came to know that both men were involved in a police encounter case registered on July 25 at the PIB Colony police station.

The SHO told the court that the detainees were produced before the court of a judicial magistrate for remand.

The judge came down heavily on the police for not furnishing the same to the magistrate at the time of the raid and directed the SHO to get conducted the identification parade of the detainees and also collect other evidence if any and place it in court on Aug 3 (today).

The police got the physical remand of the detainees — Abid and Bilal — on July 30 from the court of a judicial magistrate in a police encounter case for three days. However, the court directed the investigation officer to produce evidence against them on the next hearing.

After the expiry of remand, the IO produced them in court on Thursday but failed to place anything against the two men. Subsequently, the judicial magistrate released them under Section 63 (discharge of person apprehended) of the criminal procedure code.

One of the relatives of the detainees had filed an application under Section 491 (power to issue directions of the nature of habeas corpus) of the CrPC in court stating that both men were picked up on July 25 by the police.

The applicant further submitted that they had unlawfully been confined at the Ferozabad police station and prayed to the court for their recovery.

Warrant out against police inspector

A drugs court issued on Friday non-bailable warrant for the arrest of a police officer for not submitting some documents in a smuggled and expired drugs case. Mohammad Shafiq and others have been booked for allegedly storing and selling illegal, smuggled and poor quality medicines at their shop in Bolton Market in 2009.

The then CID inspector, Tariq Islam, headed a raiding team that recovered the drugs and booked the suspects under the Drugs Act, 1976.

He appeared in court on June 21 after an extended absence and informed it that the case property was destroyed due to a bomb blast in the CID Civil Lines building. The court directed him to hand over the case papers to the drug inspector/investigation officer as the charge-sheet had not been filed despite the delay of around three years for want of these documents.

However, the IO informed the court that the police officer in question had yet to give him the documents of the case.

The three-member drug court headed by Saathi Ishaq issued a non-bailable warrant against the police inspector till Aug 29.