PESHAWAR, June 16: The Peshawar High Court on Friday issued notices to the deputy attorney general and the NWFP advocate general in a writ petition challenging detention of a medical practitioner by the Inter Service Intelligence. A bench comprising Justice Qaim Jan Khan and Justice Ijaz Afzal ordered that the two officials should appear on next date and clarify whether the detainee was in a provincial or a federal agency.

The petition has been filed by Sabir Khan, brother of detainee Siddique Ali, stating that his brother was picked while he was going to his office on June 3 and since then his whereabouts were not known.

Advocate Yousaf Khan Yousafzai contended on behalf of the petitioner that under the Constitution a person had to be produced before a court within 24 hours of his arrest but the detainee, hailing from Odigram (Swat), had not been produced before any court.

The petitioner alleged that the SHO of Hayatabad police station, an SP of Crimes Investigation Department and an official of the ISI, who disclosed his name as Major Faheem, intercepted his brother along with his colleague Abid Ali on the pretext of seeking guidance. Then they started asking questions and later forced them to sit in a pick-up vehicle. Abid Ali was set free on the way while his brother was taken to some unknown place.

The petitioner claimed that his brother had no connection with any group or militant outfit nor involved in any sort of terrorism.

The director general ISI, the SP of CID, SHO Hayatabad police station and director of Intelligence Bureau, Peshawar Zone have been cited as respondents in the petition.