HYDERABAD: A division bench of Sindh High Court’s Hyderabad circuit comprising Justice Nazar Akbar and Justice Khadim Hussain Tunio on Thursday allowed the additional inspector general (AIG) of Hyderabad three weeks’ time to produce a missing man, allegedly taken away by police, or appear before it on Feb 16.

Assistant attorney general (AAG) Aslam Pervez Khan submitted a statement on behalf of the SHO of the B-Section police station, Tando Adam, on which the court observed that the case was lingering on as no serious efforts were being made to recover the missing person, Abdul Sattar Awan, a resident of Sanghar.

Petitioner Abdul Hameed had filed a petition in court stating that his brother, Abdul Sattar Awan, worked on the lands of Mohammad Umar Marri and an amount of Rs20,000 was outstanding against the landowner. He stated that his brother used to demand his dues on which Mr Marri started issuing threats of dire consequences to him. He further stated that the missing man’s brother filed an application before the sessions judge, who directed the respondents to provide legal protection to the applicant.

Instead of providing protection, Mr Hameed stated, the respondent-11 (SHO of the Berani police station, Sanghar district) started harassing him and asked him to withdraw the case. He said that his brother again filed an application but no action was taken.

On Nov 3, 2020, around a dozen persons entered his brother’s house and took him away, the petitioner said, adding that he saw three police mobiles outside the house while his brother was taken away.

Action ordered against two police officers

The same bench had on Wednesday ordered the Hyderabad SSP to take action against the SHO and investigating officer concerned who did not properly investigate the FIR pertaining to the disappearance of a patient from the Sir Cowasjee Institute of Psychiatry in 2017.

The order was passed on a constitutional petition filed by a woman, Ms Abida. Her counsel, Mohsin Ali, stated that her brother, Pervez Ahmed, was a mentally ill person admitted to the hospital and had gone missing in 2017. He stated that the petitioner approached the police concerned but they refused to receive her complaint. He stated that the petitioner ultimately filed the petition on March 20, 2018.

DSP Pathan Khan Kaka informed the court that the FIR was lodged on April 17, 2018 in which several accused were nominated but the said FIR was disposed of as C-class without any progress.

The court noted that the conduct of the SHO and IO concerned was clearly an effort to protect the accused who were responsible for keeping safe custody of the missing person. “We are not in a position to look into the report in which SHO/IO concerned declared that FIR so registered was disposed of as C-class. Accordingly, SSP Hyderabad is directed to immediately take action against SHO/IO and all other responsible who have failed to perform their duties by not investigating the FIR in proper manner and further ensure a fresh up to the mark investigation of said crime,” the order said.

The order further said that “everybody who was responsible for safe custody and care of petitioner’s brother namely Pervez Ahmed should be nominated in the challan in accordance with law. This exercise shall be completed within a period of one month”.

Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2021