HYDERABAD, Sept 3: Justice Amir Hani Muslim of the Sindh High Court, Hyderabad circuit bench, here on Wednesday ordered an independent inquiry to be conducted by DPO and two other police officers into disappearance of two intermediate students from a government girls college in March.

He recalled his earlier order regarding an inquiry to be conducted by crime branch in the same matter and ordered that the Hyderabad DIG would monitor the inquiry ordered today.

The order was passed on a petition filed by Ghulam Abbas, seeking recovery of his daughter Sumaira Malik, who had gone missing along with her friend, Komal Jokhio, daughter of one Abdullah Jokhio.

Jokhio and Abbas have lodged counter cases with Market police regarding kidnapping of their daughters in March. Jokhio had accused Sumaira’s mother of kidnapping his daughter after she went inside the Government Nazareth Girls college along with some other persons in a car. In his FIR he claimed that Sumaira’s mother took him to a bungalow in GOR colony of an official where she demanded Rs1 million for handing over his daughter but they expressed their inability to pay the money and thus he lodged an FIR.

According to petitioner’s counsel, Noorul Haq Qureshi, his client had also lodged a counter case with the Market police regarding kidnapping of his daughter Sumaira. He said that girl’s uncle Iqbal and first cousin, Asif had been challaned by police. He said that both the girls had not been recovered. He said that police had conducted investigation with a malafide intention for which he had to submit an application before the Sindh police chief who ordered a separate investigation by crime branch which is in progress.

The counsel said that investigating officer of the case neither recorded statement of bungalow owner nor tried to know who is the owner of the said bungalow where Sumaira’s mother allegedly had taken Abdullah Jokhio and demanded ransom of Rs1 million.

He said that police had not tried to recover the girls and submitted the challan of Jokhio’s FIR while FIR of his client was disposed of as cancel class that’s why he had to seek re-investigation of the case. He prayed the court to ensure recovery of the girls which police had been avoiding.

After hearing the case, Justice Muslim called Hyderabad DIG Sanaullah Abbasi from his office who accordingly appeared before him. The two parties agreed that the DIG should be appointed as inquiry officer to which the court didn’t disagree saying that DIG has many other issues to deal with. The judge ordered the DIG to appoint an inquiry committee headed by the Hyderabad DPO along with two other police officers.