PESHAWAR: A local court in Nowshera ordered the district police officer to register an FIR about disappearance of a man, whose family members claimed that he was taken into custody by police few days ago and since then his whereabouts were not known.

The additional district and sessions judge, Mohammad Asif, disposed of a petition filed by a woman, Ms Tasleema, who had challenged alleged illegal detention of her son Fazal Wahab.

A day earlier, the court had deputed a bailiff to search for the detainee at different police lock-ups as well as at offices of the police high-ups. However, the bailiff, Iqbal Shah, could not trace the detainee despite visiting several police lock-ups and offices of high-ups.

Advocate Syed Azizuddin Kakakhel appeared for the petitioner and stated that on July 11, Fazal Wahab along with his wife and a minor son was travelling on his motorcycle from his residence in Nowshera to Mardan to visit his sister.

He stated that the detainee was taken into custody by local police headed by Misri Banda police station SHO Rameen Khan without any legal justification.

The lawyer claimed that other sons of the petitioner approached police and they were told that their brother would be released soon. He added that even the petitioner and her sons gave food and clothes to police for the detainee.

However, he stated that on July 18 the SHO and other police officials categorically denied presence of detainee in their custody. He requested the court to order release of the detainee from the illegal confinement of the respondents including Nowsher DPO, Akora Khattak Circle DSP and the said SHO.

He claimed that the detainee had been kept at some secret place so that he could not be traced by the bailiff.

The judge quoted a judgment of Sindh High Court and ordered that in the light of the said judgment the DPO/SHO was directed to lodge an FIR of the cognisable case regarding the missing detainee Fazal Wahab.

The court observed that since the detainee had not been recovered by the bailiff of this court, therefore, in the peculiar circumstances and facts of the case the present petition had become infructuous.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2022