Pakistani court orders police to investigate alleged abduction of minister — Dawn

The Peshawar High Court in Pakistan has ordered the inspector general of police of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to investigate the circumstances of the alleged abduction of provincial minister Fazal Shakur Khan and take all possible measures to locate him. Dawn reports.

A bench comprising judges Syed Arshad Ali and Kamran Hayat Miankhel heard a petition filed by the official’s brother, Anwar Aziz. The court noted that the alleged crime may have occurred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, so police must establish the minister’s whereabouts and submit a report within a week. The next hearing was scheduled for October 1.

Circumstances of the petition

According to the petition, unknown armed men allegedly abducted Fazal Shakur Khan near a toll plaza on the Peshawar–Islamabad motorway on September 21. The petitioner claims that this happened during the day in a crowded area near the motorway’s entry and exit points.

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Local police registered a criminal complaint against unidentified persons. An investigator told the court that two people accompanying the minister had returned home and gave statements under Article 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Testimony of the companions

According to the investigator, the companions said that around 14 people seized them and took them to an unknown location. The two men were later released, but the minister, they said, was not released.

The petitioner’s representatives drew the court’s attention to the fact that there were police posts on the other side of the road, but, they claimed, law enforcement officers did not prevent the alleged abduction. The petition also requests the formation of a high-level impartial investigation team to establish Fazal Shakur Khan’s whereabouts and examine the circumstances of his possible unlawful detention.