ISLAMABAD, May 29: The Rawalpindi Bench of the Lahore High Court on Monday asked the ISI and federal government to give reasons about detention and whereabouts of a nuclear scientist associated with the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission.

The scientist, Attiqur Rehman, was picked up from his residence in Abbottabad by secret agencies and taken to an undisclosed location about two years back.

For the last two years no reason for his arrest has been given. Besides, his place of detention has not been disclosed.

His father, Siddiqur Rehman, filed a petition in the Supreme Court through Ikram Chaudhary Advocate in which the federal government and ISI have been made respondents.

The petitioner has pleaded in his petition that his son was arrested on the day of his marriage on the diktat of the US. We have no contact with him, he argued.

The petitioner prayed before the court that directives be issued that the nuclear scientist should not be handed over to the US.

Justice Abdul Shakoor Paracha called the standing council Raja Iftikhar Ahmad Javed and directed him to approach the director general, ISI, and also the federal government to seek information about the detention.