SUKKUR, Dec 23: The Sindh High Court, Sukkur Bench, has issued notices to 14 police officers to appear in person or through their counsel on January 17, 2006. The police officers included the Inspector General of Police, Sindh, the Regional Police Officer, Sukkur, the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Larkana, the former District Police Officer, Shikarpur, Khamiso Khan Memon, the former District Police Officer Investigation, Shikarpur, Mehtab Shaikh, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Garhi Yasin, Allah Dino Junejo, the SHO Dakhan Akbar Mahar, the Investigation Officer Amanullah and others.

The two-judge bench of Justice Sarmad Jalal Usmani and Justice Ameer Hani Muslim, issued these notices on a petition filed by Farooq Ali Channa, Judge of the Banking Court No II, Karachi and Abdul Wahab Abbasi, IVth Additional Session Judge, Hyderabad, through their counsel Ghulam Shabbir Dayo, praying the court to pay an amount of Rs.15 million as compensation towards mental and physical torture and harassment and damage to their reputation and status, besides medical treatment expenses.

The petitioners stated that as the required medical facility was not available at Shikarpur, therefore on 3-12-2004 both the petitioners had gone to Larkana, for medical treatment. While returning from Larkana they were kidnapped by the bandits from the jurisdiction of police station Dakhan, Shikarpur district, and demanded ransom.

An FIR No 89/2004 was lodged by Aftab Ahmed Bughio, IIIrd additional district and session judge Shikarpur, at police station Dakhan, under sections 365-A, 148, 149 PPC and 7 of anti-terrorist act.

The petitioners further stated that, they were taken by the bandits on foot, for about ten hours and were kept in a jungle in darkness, under the wrongful confinement at various places as a result of which the petitioners sustained mental and physical torture, harassment and their lives were made miserable.

The petitioner Farooq Ali Channa was a diabetic patient who was neither provided proper food and medical assistance, hence fingers of the petitioners were badly affected due to the infection.

They said that at the time of kidnapping Farooq Ali Channa was having a mobile phone, which was snatched by the kidnappers and was in their use on which they were contacting the family members and relatives of the petitioners demanding ransom.

They stated that they remained under the wrongful confinement of the bandits for two months. They said that the senior police officials had officially collected lucrative amount of millions of rupees from each police station, for payment of ransom to the bandits and to get the petitioners released after striking a deal with them. But the respondents, instead of making payment to the bandits, misappropriated the amount.