Sajid Gondal disappearance: Missing Persons Commission takes notice of incident

ISLAMABAD: Chairperson of the Missing Persons Commission, Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal took notice of Securities and Exchange Commission (SECP) official Sajid Gondal's disappearance, directing his family members to appear before the Commission on Wednesday. 

The Commission has sought a report from the secretary interior and inspector-general police Islamabad relating to Gondal's disappearance.

Iqbal has also asked Gondal's family members to appear before the commission in person on Wednesday to discuss the matter.

 SECP official Gondal went missing on Thursday evening, with top government officials — including the human rights minister and the premier's aide on accountability — on Friday ordering the "early recovery" of the SECP official.

In this regard, the Amnesty International's South Asia chapter had also released a statement for Gondal, saying "a former journalist and an official with the SECP is missing and feared to have been disappeared".

"We call upon the authorities to establish his whereabouts immediately," the human rights organisation added.

Petition filed in IHC

Meanwhile, Gondal’s family has filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court seeking the court’s intervention for his recovery.

The petition, filed by his mother, has named secretaries of defence and interior and Islamabad police as respondents.

She has raised concerns that her son could be subjected to mental and physical torture and that the abduction is a violation of his basic constitutional rights. 

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah on Saturday directed authorities to recover Gondal by Monday, 2pm.