KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Thursday directed police to adopt modern technology and techniques to trace whereabouts of 13 children who went missing on different occasions in parts of the city.

A two-judge bench was hearing a constitutional petition of a non-governmental organisation against the insistence of child kidnapping in the city and recovery of the missing children.

Petitioner Roshni Research and Development Welfare had filed the petition way back in 2012, seeking court directives to the provincial police for considering the missing children cases a cognisable offence and registering FIRs in this regard.

The NGO alleged that cases of missing children were not properly investigated by the police and as a result many children lost their lives.

Earlier, the inspector general of police had submitted a report and informed the court that six of 19 children had been recovered; however the law enforcers were still clueless about the remaining children.

The bench directed the police to use modern technology to track down the missing children and put off the hearing to a date to be later announced by the court’s office.

The SHC, which had heard the case several time during the past six years, time and again directed the provincial government and police to take measures for the recovery of missing children.

Ex-IGP’s bail extended

Meanwhile, another two-judge bench of the high court expressed displeasure over the absence of former provincial inspector general of police Ghulam Haider Jamali’s counsel and warned him that the bail of his client would be revoked if he did not attend the court to argue the bail applications of the police officers in a multi-million corruption case.

The bench was hearing the bail confirmation pleas of former IG and other senior police officers in Rs50 million corruption reference.

During the hearing, the court annoyed when it learnt that the lawyer representing Jamali could not appear before it.

The court directed the former provincial police chief to ensure that his lawyer be present on the next hearing and warned that his bail would otherwise be recalled, and extended the pre-arrest bail till Feb 6.

Jamali along with other top senior police officers was booked by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in reference of Rs50 million corruption filed in the accountability court.

The NAB had carried out the investigation in the light of the report of a three-member fact finding committee which was appointed by the Supreme Court to investigate irregularities in the recruitment of Sindh police.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2018