LAHORE: The caretaker federal government on Wednesday admitted before the Lahore High Court (LHC) that infamous former police inspector Abid Hussain, alias Abid Boxer, has been extradited to Pakistan.

Acting Chief Justice Muhammad Anwarul Haq was hearing a petition filed by the father in-law of the former cop, who was infamous for being an ‘encounter specialist’.

A deputy attorney general told the court that Abid Boxer had been brought back to the country in February. The judge then directed the government to produce Mr Hussain in court on July 27.

Judge orders that former inspector be produced in court on 27th

During a previous hearing in March this year, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had told the court that Mr Hussain had not been extradited to Pakistan.

The Interpol agency’s director had stated that Mr Hussain had been arrested by the local police of the United Arab Emirate (UAE) in a fraud case. While the petition alleged that Mr Hussain had been brought back to the country, the police denied that they had kept him in custody.

Petitioner Jaffar Rafi, Mr Hussain’s father-in-law, had said in his petition that his family believed that Mr Hussain may be killed in a staged encounter if he returned to the country with the help of Interpol.

He claimed that his son-in-law had been implicated in a number of fabricated cases, because of political reasons.

He asked the court to summon records of all such cases and order the FIA and the police to ensure Mr Hussain’s protection.

He added that Mr Hussain’s right to a fair trial necessitated that he be protected as guaranteed under Article 10-A of the Constitution.

Abid Hussain (Boxer) had joined the police service in 1988 as an assistant sub-inspector and later was promoted as inspector.

He escaped the country in 2008 following registration of multiple cases against him for murder and attempts to murder.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2018