LAHORE: Police on Sunday informed the Lahore High Court that the teenage girl abducted from Shadbagh had been recovered from Pakpattan.

Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti on Sunday took notice of the abduction of the girl from Lahore’s Shadbagh area and held first hearing at 8pm.

Additional Advocate General Jawwad Yaqoob, IGP Sardar Rao and CCPO Bilal Siddique Kamyana appeared before the court. During the final phase of hearing at 10:30pm, police also produced the father of the girl in court. On court’s query, the father confirmed that his daughter had been recovered.

The chief justice lauded the efforts of police and disposed of the matter.

During the first phase of the hearing, the chief justice expressed displeasure over the failure of police to recover the girl before the kidnappers took her out of the city and allegedly reached Pakpattan. He observed that police should have secured all exit points of the city.

“I consider her my daughter and you should also have the same feelings about the abducted girl,” the chief justice told the police officers.

The CJ turned down a request of the IGP to adjourn the hearing for Monday morning and reminded him that the court did not take notice for giving more time to police. He said all efforts would be useless if the abducted girl did not reach her home before the night.

He warned the police officers that the prime minister would be asked to remove the IGP, the CCPO and the SHO concerned if the girl was not recovered by 10pm.

The chief justice also rejected a request of the law officer to stop media from reporting the proceedings of the case.

According to a report, police registered a case against suspects Ilyas and Abid. The 17-year-old girl was abducted in Lahore in broad daylight as she was returning home with her brother after appearing for her matriculation examination. The teenager and her brother were on a motorcycle when four kidnappers pushed them to the roadside using their car.

They bundled the girl into the car and took her away after beating her brother.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2022