LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday disposed of a habeas corpus petition challenging alleged detention of Ahmad Faran Khan, a friend of former federal minister Moonis Elahi, after police produced the detainee before it.

Capital City Police Officer Ghulam Mahmood Dogar personally appeared before the court along with the alleged missing man.

At this, Justice Aalia Neelum disposed of the petition filed by the brother of Faran Khan.

Outside the court, Mr Khan gave no clear answer to the question of reporters who wanted to know as to who had kidnapped him. “I was with my family,” he simply said.

In the petition, Salman Zaheer Khan, the brother of Faran Khan, had alleged that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) picked up his brother and kept him in illegal custody.

However, the FIA, in its report, denied the allegation and said neither a first information report (FIR) was registered against Faran Khan nor was he in its custody.

Later, the court had directed the police to trace the whereabouts of the petitioner’s brother and produce him before it.

The FIA launched an inquiry against the family of Chief Minister Parvez Elahi on charges of corporate crime and also issued a call-up notice to the friend of Moonis Elahi, but he did not appear before the agency.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2023