Pakistani court to hear petition to locate Minister Fazal Shakoor — Dawn
The Peshawar High Court in Pakistan will hear a petition on September 23 seeking the recovery of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Civil Engineering Fazal Shakoor Khan. As Dawn reports, the petition was filed following claims of the alleged abduction of the official and two men who were in the vehicle with him.
Petition to the court and police
The petition to the court and a complaint to Chamkani police were filed by the minister's brother, retired Major Anwar Aziz. The police complaint, dated September 21, states that Fazal Shakoor, his driver Kaiser Khan, and Constable Mujahid were allegedly abducted by unidentified armed individuals near the M-1 motorway toll plaza in Peshawar.
According to the petitioner, they were travelling from Charsadda to Peshawar for a provincial assembly session. Their vehicle was intercepted by people in black uniforms and civilian clothing who allegedly fired at its tyres. The minister and his two companions were taken to an unknown location, while the official vehicle was left at the scene.
The police complaint cited Article 365 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which concerns the kidnapping or forcible removal of a person. The petition asks the court to order police and other law enforcement agencies to locate the minister and to establish a high-level commission to investigate the incident.
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Petitioner's demands
The respondents in the case include the inspector general of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police, the Peshawar police chief, and the senior superintendent of police for operations. The petitioner also asks that, if the minister is being held by a state institution or another body, he be brought before the court and released if his detention is found unlawful.
A video shared by PTI shows several masked armed men near the minister's vehicle. The footage shows one of them grabbing the car door while another fires at its tyres.
PTI claims another disappearance
PTI also said that unidentified individuals allegedly abducted its member of parliament, Fazal Muhammad Khan, near the Rashakai interchange on the Mardan bypass road. According to his personal secretary, Waqar Khan, the lawmaker was travelling from Islamabad to Charsadda for a protest over the alleged abduction of the minister when his vehicle was intercepted and its tyres were shot at.
A PTI rally was later held in Charsadda demanding the immediate recovery of Fazal Shakoor. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Shafi Jan wrote in a post on X that the minister's disappearance was a direct attack on the constitution, law, democracy, and the people's mandate.
