QUETTA, Sept 20: A division bench of the Balochistan High Court (BHC) on Thursday ordered the advocate general to ask the government to deport a Bangladeshi national and other foreigners in the Quetta jail before the next hearing.

The bench, comprising Chief Justice Amanullah Khan Yasinzai and Justice Akhtar Zaman Malghani, issued the directives on a petition filed by a Bangladeshi submitting that he has completed a 14-day sentence on October 28, 2006, but was still behind bars.

Petitioner Abul Bashar stated that he was arrested in Uthal by Pakistan Coast Guards which handed him over to the Federal Investigation Agency and the trial court sentenced him for 14 days under Foreigners Act. The petitioner prayed the court to order his release and deportation to his country.

Advocate general Salahuddin Mengal informed the court that the government had taken measures to shift the petitioner and other foreign prisoners to Karachi for deportation to their respective countries. Before adjourning the proceedings for two weeks, the court directed the advocate general that the deportation process should be completed before the next hearing. In another petition, filed by Naseer Khan that his two sons were arrested in Rakhni of the Barkhan district, but had not been produced before any court, the BHC issued notices to the respondents.

The petitioner stated that a joint investigation team interrogated Afzal Khan and Faiz Muhammad in sub-jail of Anti-Terrorist Force at Quetta and declared them ‘black’ on June 28, 2007.

The petitioner submitted that the investigation team had assured him that the accused would be produced before a court in Barkhan, but despite the passage of about three months they were still detained in the jail.