KARACHI, March 24: The Sindh High Court directed a provincial government law officer on Friday to obtain and file an affidavit sworn by a former security officer of the US consulate-general in Karachi who is alleged to have manhandled and illegally confined a businessman in March last year.

A division bench, comprising Justices Gulzar Ahmed and Mrs Qaiser Iqbal, passed the order in a petition moved by a businessman, Mirza Aslam Baig, who seeks registration of a case against the American and Pakistani officials who intercepted his car and maltreated him near Awami Markaz, Sharea Faisal, without any rhyme or reason when he was on way to his office on March 22, 2005.

The petitioner alleged that US security personnel forcibly took him and his friend to the US consulate-general building and confined them for hours for ‘interrogation’. Later, the US officials handed them over to the Artillery Maidan police station, where they were unlawfully detained for hours and were released only after securing an undertaking that they would not report the incident.

The petitioner requested the court to direct the police to register his complaint against the US and Pakistani officials involved and send them up for trial after investigations.

As the petition came up for hearing on Friday, an additional advocate-general informed the bench that the affidavit of the US security officer, Vincent Martinez, could not be filed as he had returned home since. The Foreign Office has contacted the US embassy in Islamabad to secure an affidavit from the officer in terms of the court order, the AAG told the bench. He sought two months’ time for complying with the court order and the bench granted his request.

Earlier, US consulate regional security officer Thomas V Gallagher denied in his statement that the petitioner and his friend were taken to the US consulate-general building for interrogation.