ISLAMABAD, May 11: The government for the first time on Friday admitted before the Supreme Court that a person, who had disappeared in early 2004, was in the custody of an intelligence agency.

Confirming the long-held suspicion, Deputy Attorney General Tariq Khokhar presented the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Faisalabad, who said the missing person, Hafiz Abdul Basit, had been arrested by police in January 2004 and was handed over to the Military Intelligence (MI) after his statement had been recorded.

A two-member Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar and Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan took up petitions filed by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and former PPP senator Farhatullah Babar for the recovery of missing persons and complaints by Amina Masood Janjua, Saqlain Mehdi, Aisha, Abdul Ghaffar, Amtul Hafiz, Fatima, Mohammad Ikram Alvi, Arif Abbasi, Syed Babar and others.

The DIG said stated that Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Iftikhar Hussain had recorded the statement of Hafiz Ibrar Ahmed and Hafiz Abdul Basit before handing them over to the military authorities near Rawalpindi Toll Plaza at 6:40pm in January 2004.

Hafiz Basit’s uncle Hafiz Mohammad Nasir also appeared before the court and said that he had met his nephew after one month of his disappearance. The meeting was arranged by an army officer near the Chaklala Airport, and that he had been kept standing all night long for the meeting.

He said he also had a telephonic conversation with Basit after one year of his detention. The court directed him to submit a written affidavit in this regard.

About Imran Munir, who is facing a trial before the Field General Court Martial for spying against Pakistan, HRCP chairperson Asma Jehangir claimed that what necessitated Imran’s arrest was not spying but a love affair with a woman who was related to an officer of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).

Highlighting the change in stated positions, she recalled that the interior ministry had earlier denied the custody of Mr Munir with any intelligence agency before a Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court in 2006, but now they were admitting that he was with them on charges of spying.

Father and sister of Imran Munir complained that despite court’s directives, a meeting between them and Imran, probably under detention in Mangla, could not be arranged. The court ordered the DAG to arrange the meeting by Sunday.

Col Javed Iqbal Lodhi of the National Crisis Management Cell informed the court that one more missing person, Fahad Bugti, had reached home.

Ms Jehangir said Fahad Bugti had been badly tortured and traumatised by army and intelligence agencies.

The court directed the crisis cell in-charge to concede and inform the court about deaths of any missing person occurred during his detention in order to end the ordeal of their family members.

With the release of Fahad, the total number of persons traced has reached 91. Earlier, the government has traced 56 people in HRCP’s list of 136 persons and 34 from Amina Masood’s list of 43.

Advocate Hashmat Habib alleged that the government had not submitted details of those who were missing rather it was providing details of those who had been released or indicted.

Despite earlier court directives, the government on Friday failed to submit affidavits suggesting who picked the recently released persons, where they were kept during the captivity, whether they were produced before any court, what were charges against them and why were they freed.

The wife of a missing person, Qari Obaidullah, informed the court in a choked voice that Saifullah Khalid who was released recently had told her that her husband had been held in Peshawar Jail in shackles and was at the verge of death as he was enduring last stage of tuberculosis.

The court directed the DAG to locate his whereabouts and, if found in Peshawar, arrange a meeting with his wife.

About Saud Menon, who had been produced before the court in a bad shape at the last hearing and now in coma at the Liaquat National Hospital, Karachi, Advocate Shaukat Akhtar requested the court to direct the hospital to provide a report regarding his condition.

Amina Masood, wife of missing Masood Janjua, informed the court that there were many released persons who were willing to submit affidavits, if provided protection, about the whereabouts of other missing people.

The hearing was adjourned for two weeks, with a directive to the government to continue efforts and trace the rest of the missing persons.