PHC orders police to recover missing persons in one week

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday directed the police to recover the four missing members of the Alkozai family within a week or else the chief minister would be summoned.

A single bench of Justice Ejaz Anwar said the court was not satisfied with the performance of the Joint Investigation Team, which was formed for the recovery of the missing persons. He made the remarks during the hearing of a habeas corpus petition.

A woman Gulalai Alkozai had filed the petition through her lawyer Nadir Shah Advocate for the recovery of her four brothers. The bench said the vehicles, which were seen in the CCTV footage, belonged to the police, but the cops had expressed ignorance about the whereabouts of the missing persons.

The court wondered as to who had picked up the four persons belonging to the Alkozai family, who went missing from Hayatabad six months ago if the police had not arrested them.Nadir Shah Advocate told the bench that Usman Khan Alkozai, Mohammad Nasir, Abdul Waris and Zahir Shah Alkozai were picked up by armed men from Hayatabad six months ago. He said the four persons had been missing since then, adding the CCTV footage of the incident was also available.

The bench said the police should recover the missing persons within one week and produce them before the court.

The bench said the police had failed to perform its duty. The bench said the chief minister would be summoned to the court if the missing persons were not recovered within

one week.