PESHAWAR: A Peshawar High Court bench on Tuesday directed the General Headquarters and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to produce reports of their respective inquiries into the killing of a ‘missing person’ in an alleged encounter while trying to escape from custody of an intelligence agency.

Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Qaisar Rasheed asked Colonel Imran, a representative of the Judge Advocate General (JAG) branch of the Pakistan Army, to produce the report of the inquiry conducted on the high court’s order on April 15, the next date of hearing into a habeas corpus petition filed by father of the missing person, who was later killed in an encounter.

They also asked assistant advocate general Arshad Ahmad to submit the report of the provincial government’s investigation into the case.

The petition was filed by Peshawar’s senior lawyer Haji Mir Rehman against the detention of his son, Abdul Samad.

The petitioner alleged that his son was taken into custody by intelligence agencies from the jurisdiction of East Cantonment police station on Oct 3, 2011.

Few months after his disappearance, the petition in question was filed with the bench but on August 2012, his body was handed over to the family.

When the bench took up the petition for hearing, Colonel Imran said comments had already been filed on behalf of security forces.

However, the bench observed that it had earlier directed the principal staff officer at the GHQ to constitute a board for looking into the alleged encounter.

Colonel Imran said the inquiry had been completed and was with the GHQ.

The bench ordered the production of a copy of the said inquiry report on the next hearing.

Lawyer of the petitioner Razaullah Khan claimed while the deceased was in their custody, intelligence agencies had denied that he was in their custody.

The FIR of the said incident was registered at the West Cantonment police station on August 6, 2012 on the complaint of Captain Tahir Hafeez of Intelligence Battalion, who said Mohammad Haroon, Waliur Rehman and Abdul Samad were kept in temporary detention for their onward transportation to the notified internment centre.

Captain Tahir alleged that the detainees, including Mohammad Haroon, Waliur Rehman and Abdul Samad, snatched rifle from the guard and started firing.

He said during the encounter, two guards, Nadir Ali and Sajid Farooq, died, whereas the three detainees were also killed.

REPORT SOUGHT: The bench also directed deputy attorney general Manzoor Khalil to produce a detailed report on April 15 regarding the disappearance of a petitioner, who had been contesting case regarding the alleged illegal detention of his two sons.

An old woman from Bara Bandae village of Swat, Begum Bibi, told the bench that her two sons, Mohammad Ayaz and Mohammad Ilyas, were taken into custody by security forces around PHC asks GHQ to submit inquiry reports on missing man’s killing five years ago and since then they had been missing.

She said her husband, Shamsher Ali, had filed a petition against detention of their sons and was pursuing the said case.

She added that two months ago the security forces had also taken away her husband.

The woman clad in traditional shuttlecock burqa started crying before the court, saying she had no male member left in the family.

She said she had to beg for money so as to visit the high court from Swat.

Both the judges on the bench asked the DAG to witness the plight of the relatives of the missing persons.

Justice Mazhar Alam observed that when vast powers had been assigned to the security forces, then why they had not been exercising those powers and had been keeping persons in illegal detention.

He observed that in the national interest the court would support the forces but they could not ignore the illegalities committed by them.

Similarly, the bench directed deputy secretary of the provincial home department Usman Zaman to allow a petitioner to meet his father at an internment centre at Lakki Marwat.

The petitioner, Mujahid Khan, told the bench that his father Minhajuddin had been detained at a notified internment centre at Lakki Marwat but the family members had not been permitted to meet him.

The official told the bench that the petitioner should submit an application to the home department after which his meeting with the internee would be arranged.

Furthermore, the bench sought comments from the federal and provincial governments, provincial police officers and other respondents in around 50 other habeas corpus petitions challenging alleged illegal detention of different persons.

The bench fixed different dates for hearing into the said petitions.