LAHORE/TOBA TEK SINGH: Allegedly missing former provincial minister Ali Afzal Sahi reached home hours after the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Saturday ordered the Faisalabad police to recover and produce him on Monday (tomorrow).

Justice Safdar Saleem Shahid took up a habeas corpus petition seeking recovery of Sahi, also a son-in-law of LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti.

A lawyer told the court that police arrested Sahi from the committee room of the district bar association, Faisalabad, along with a former president of the bar.

He said the whereabouts of Sahi were unknown to his family.

Asked about the absence of the inspector general of police (IGP), an additional advocate general told the court that the IGP was busy with official duty since the prime minister was in the city.

The law officer also denied the arrest of the PTI’s former MPA by the police.

The Faisalabad city police officer stated that a special team had been constituted for his recovery. He said the police should be given some time to recover Sahi.

Justice Shahid observed that the matter involved fundamental rights of a citizen and the court will not allow any unlawful act.

The judge ordered the Faisalabad police to ensure production of the former minister on Monday.

Later in the evening, Sahi suddenly reached his Chak Jhumra residence in Faisalabad.

His friend Advocate Mian Saad Javed told Dawn that when the family of Sahi moved the high court, some unknown persons driving a car dropped the former minister near Lallian, Chiniot.

He said Sahi called his family and he was brought home.

Sahi did not respond to several calls made on his mobile number by Dawn.

Meanwhile, a delegation of lawyers led by DBA president Rana Shahid Munir Manj visited former president Bilal Ashraf Basra at central jail.

Manj told reporters that talks were under way between lawyers and the district administration and he will hopefully be released soon. Basra and Sahi were picked up by police from DBA office and the former was detained at central jail while the latter ‘disappeared’.

Published in Dawn, May 14th, 2023