KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has directed a senior police officer to “produce” eight missing students, all hailing from Balochistan, in court by Nov 4 and warned to pass an “appropriate order” in case of failure.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Adnan-Ul-Karim Memon also issued notices to the home secretary, inspector general of police (IGP), advocate general and an additional prosecutor general for Nov 4.

Petitioner Wazeer Ahmed moved the SHC and submitted that on Oct 16 police, along with personnel in plain clothes, had picked up his brother Qambar Ali and seven other students — Shoaib Ali, Haneef, Ishfaq, Shahzad, Bebarg Ameer, Zubair and Saeedullah — from their shared residence in Gulistan-i-Jauhar.

Citing the home secretary, the IGP, DIG-East, SSP-East and SHO of the Aziz Bhatti police station as respondents, the petitioner further submitted that he along with other family members of the missing students had approached the police station concerned on Oct 17, but the police neither disclosed their whereabouts nor lodged their FIR.

KU students, teachers hold rally to demand their release

The petitioner said that his missing brother was an intermediate student at a college in Mashkay, Awaran, but he was studying here at a tuition academy near NIPA.

He said that Qambar had no political association and he was not involved in any suspicious activity, but the police took him and seven of his friends away without any reason.

After a preliminary hearing, the bench in its order said: “Let notice be issued to the respondents as well as learned AG and APG. SSP is directed to produce the detenues on the next date of hearing, in case of failure, appropriate action shall be passed.”

Protest rally at KU

Also on Tuesday, scores of students of the University of Karachi organised a rally on the campus in protest over the alleged enforced disappearances of the missing Baloch students.

The protest rally began from Dr Mahmud Hussain Library and culminated at the UBL Bank roundabout.

A number of students, a few faculty members as well as some non-teaching employees participated in the rally.

KU Syndicate member Dr Riaz Ahmed, Assistant Professor Dr Hina Khan and Anand Bakhsh of the Progressive Students Alliance condemned the cases of enforced disappearances and demanded that the missing students be released immediately.

Published in Dawn, October 23th, 2024