MARDAN, June 25: District and Sessions Judge Syed Yahya Zahid Gillani on Monday rejected a habeas corpus petition challenging the alleged illegal detention of a man suspected of being involved in an assassination attempt on Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

The court announced the order after Katlang’s Station House Officer Sher Malook stated on oath that neither had he picked up the detainee Mustapha Kamal nor was he aware about his whereabouts.

The court directed the petitioner and brother of the detainee Israr Khan to file a fresh application under section 365 of the Pakistan Penal Code dealing with kidnapping of a person.

The petitioner had charged police with taking away his brother on June 19 from a local hotel in Katlang. He also suspected involvement of intelligence agencies in the incident.

Earlier, the court had sent a bailiff to the concerned police station to find the detainee but he was not found there.

The petitioner disputed the statement of the SHO and alleged that his brother was taken away by the police officer in his presence at the main bazaar in broad daylight.

He claimed that his brother was not involved in any case of terrorism or any other offence, including the assassination attempt on the prime minister in 2004.

The petitioner said his brother had participated in the 1990 Kashmir jihad with government permission. He added that his brother was now only tended his farm and cattle.

The petitioner denied his brother had opened an office in the area for recruiting and training youth for jihad or selling arms to militants.