PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has ordered the government to block the computerised national identity card of a Charsadda police constable for forcibly taking away two minor sons from his estranged wife.

A bench consisting of Chief Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan and Justice Lal Jan Khattak ordered the withholding of the salary of policeman Sanaullah and the blocking of his CNIC to stop him from making bank transactions or fleeing the country.

It issued the order on the petition of Fatima Bibi, who alleged that her husband, who had severed ties with her, had forcibly taken away their two minor sons.

The court fixed May 25 for the next hearing into the petition asking the district police officer of Charsadda and counter-terrorism department to trace the policeman and produce him along with the children on that date.

PHC asks police, CTD to produce constable along with children

The petitioner’s counsel, Mehwish Muhib Kakakhel, said the couple had got separated and the children were with the petitioner.

She said the accused, who worked as the cook for the Charsadda DPO, snatched the two children from her.

The lawyer said the custody of the children of a tender age should be with the mother until they attained the sense of understand or maturity or major age. She said if the children were not recovered at the earliest, the children would suffer mental trauma.

The court had earlier ordered the Charsadda DPO to produce the respondent along with the children but they couldn’t be traced. It also asked the CTD to trace the children and their father, but to no avail.

Officials of the CTD said the constable had left Charsadda and his phone’s signals were last tracked in Bajaur district.

They added that the relevant DPO was also asked to help trace the policeman but he failed.

The officials sought more time for tracing the respondent.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2021