LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Thursday directed the Punjab inspector general of police to recover two brothers of PTI social media head Azhar Mashwani allegedly picked up by law enforcement agencies.

Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi gave the order while hearing a petition filed by Qazi Habibur Rehman, the father of the alleged abducted men — Zahoorul Hassan and Mazharul Hassan.

A counsel for the petitioner alleged that the sons of his client were in illegal custody of the law enforcement agencies.

The judge asked the lawyer why the petitioner did not first file an application with the police. The lawyer said both siblings were also previously detained for 100 days and then released.

Azhar Mashwani’s father claims his family is being ‘politically victimised’

The petitioner was also picked up, he said, adding that the petitioner and his family were being targeted for political victimisation.

When Justice Rizvi asked the counsel who had detained the petitioner’s sons for 100 days, the lawyer said the authorities did not disclose this and the two individuals were later released.

The judge later ordered the Punjab IGP and the Counter-Terrorism Dep­art­ment (CTD) to re-cover the individuals and produce them before the court on Friday (today).

IG Punjab Dr Usman Anwar and Additional IG CTD Punjab Waseem Sial didn’t immediately respond to the text messages about the arrests.

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2024