ISLAMABAD, Sept 23: The Supreme Court has sought affidavits from 11 witnesses, former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf among them, in the case about disappearance of Masood Janjua.

The affidavits have to be filed by Oct 6.

A two-judge bench headed by Justices Jawwad S. Khawaja issued the orders on Monday after Mr Janjua’s wife Amna, who has been campaigning for the release of missing persons for many years and whose husband has been missing for a long time, requested the court to provide her an opportunity to cross-examine all the witnesses she had named in her application.

She has named Gen Musharraf, former defence secretary retired Lt Gen Syed Athar Ali Abbas, former interior secretary Kamal Shah, former director generals of National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) retired Brig Javed Iqbal Lodhi and retired Brig Javed Iqbal Cheema, retired Col Jehangir Akhtar, Col Habibullah, Brig Mansoor Saeed Sheikh, former deputy director general (counter-terrorism) of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt Gen Nusrat Naeem, Lt Gen Shafqaat Ahmed, Lt Gen Nadeem Taj and former attorney general Malik Qayyum.

According to Ms Janjua, all of them are connected one way or the other to the disappearance of her husband.

When asked why Gen Musharraf had been asked to come to the witness box, Additional Attorney General Tariq Khokhar said that, according to Ms Janjua, Lt Gen Naeem had mentioned in a statement that he had been specifically asked by the former military ruler during a conference about the whereabouts of Mr Janjua whose father retired Lt Col Raja Ali Mohammad Janjua had been a commanding officer of Gen Musharraf.

Gen Naeem said in his statement that Gen Musharraf had been told that Masood Janjua had been killed but the location of his grave was not known. The information had also been communicated to the father-in-law of Ms Janjua.

On Sept 11, Mr Khokhar had informed the court that Mr Janjua and his companion Faisal Faraz had been killed by Al Qaeda.

Citing a statement recorded on June 30, 2011 by Gen Naeem before the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (CIED), he said one Tariq, who was a Pakistani agent of the US Central Intelligence Agency and was killed eight years ago in South Waziristan, had arranged a meeting of Mr Janjua with Al Qaeda leader Sheikh Saad Al Misri, who was on the hit list of the CIA.

Through Mr Janjua and Mr Faraz, a laptop fitted with a satellite tracking chip was delivered to the Al Qaeda leader. An associate of Al Misri, who was also computer expert, detected the chip after which both the men were killed on suspicion of double-crossing them.

Meanwhile, a citizen, Shahid Orakzai, filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking a declaration that the government should not recommend general pardon or remission for any group of prisoners (terrorists) condemned for murders or facing trials for attacks on security forces.