KARACHI, Dec 4 The Sindh High Court on Friday directed a district and sessions judge of Hyderabad to appoint a judicial officer for the recovery of a Karachi-based businessman who has allegedly been in illegal detention of the Crime Investigation Agency in Hyderabad.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah also ordered the production of the detained businessman, Ali Buksh, before it on December 8.

The bench was hearing a constitutional petition filed by the businessman's wife, Mrs Mukhtaran, who has cited the Sindh home secretary, provincial police chief, DIG of Hyderabad and official in charge of the CIA Centre, Hyderabad, as respondents.

The bench put the respondents on notice for December 8.

Advocate Waseem Sammo, appearing on behalf of the petitioner, submitted in the court that the CIA Hyderabad personnel took away the businessman on Nov 20 without showing any warrants for his arrest.

He stated that the CIA staff demanded Rs200,000 from the businessman and they picked him up from his house in Karachi when he refused to pay the money.

The counsel submitted that the petitioner later learnt that her husband had been in illegal detention at the CIA Centre, Hyderabad, for 15 days though he was not involved in any criminal case.

He prayed to the court to order the respondents to produce the detained businessman in court along with the record of the case(s), if any, registered against him.

The bench directed the judge concerned to appoint a judicial officer to conduct a raid on the place identified by the petitioner for the recovery of her husband.