PESHAWAR, March 7: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday ordered the local police to forthwith return all the household items taken away from the residence of a petitioner, directing the raiding party to appear before the court on March 19.

A division bench, comprising Justice Khalida Rachied and Justice Tallat Qayyum Qureshi, observed that the police had become dacoits, and ordered the advocate general to provide a list of all the station house officers (SHOs) who had been serving at Pishtakhara Police Station since April 27, 2000, the day when police raided house of the petitioner, Adil Khan.

The court also observed that when the custodian of law became a threat to life and property of citizens then from whom citizens would seek help.

The SHO of the police station, Fareed Hussain Bangash, appeared before the bench, and stated that he had assumed charge only a month ago and was not aware about the incident.

He refuted the claim of the petitioner that the police had taken away items, including jewellry and money to the tune of millions of rupees, stating that according to the list with them the police had only seized two air conditioners, two sofa sets, a television, washing machine and a TV trolley.

The bench directed the SHO to return back the items he had mentioned. Decision about the remaining goods would be taken on next hearing.

The SHO claimed that father of the petitioner, Rasool Khan, was a dacoit and was wanted in a dacoity case occurred on April 24, 2000.

The bench asked: “Even if he is a dacoit, under which law the police seized his household goods?”

The police itself had been acting like dacoits, the banch said.

The court observed that the police usually took away things from citizens and used it in their residences.

Now after two years, the court observed, the items seized from the petitioner would be useless.