ISLAMABAD, May 22: The Supreme Court on Wednesday took several notices regarding various news reports, including illegal occupation of forest land and the kidnapping of a girl.

News reports claimed that 2,500 kanals belonging to Forest Department in Rawalpindi Division had been illegally occupied.

The reports maintained that the forest trees were being chopped by land mafia causing loss to the provincial government.

Taking suo motu notice, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry ordered the Chief Secretary Punjab Javed Iqbal and Punjab secretary forest to submit a reply by May 25.

A similar case is also pending before the Supreme Court regarding encroachment of 1,416 acres in Rukh Takht Pari Rawalpindi by Bahria Town in 2005.

The land belonged to the Forest Department, Rawalpindi.

The chief justice also ordered IG Punjab Aftab Sultan to submit a reply regarding reports which suggested the kidnapping of a girl from Westridge police station area.

The girl, 12, was kidnapped on April 25, and her parents had been receiving calls from kidnappers demanding ransom.

However, the police were reluctant to take action as a result of which neither the girl was recovered nor an investigation started.

Another suo motu notice was taken on an appeal by Shazia Javed of Rawalpindi, which appeared in a section of the press.

She maintained that the police officer of Morga police station had arrested her husband in a fake case.

According to reports, the husband was the complainant in a case, but instead of arresting the culprits, the police booked him in a fabricated case.

Shazia Javed requested the chief justice to intervene, and the apex court has called for a report from the Punjab IG.—Nasir Iqbal