PESHAWAR: A relative of four brothers of a prominent business family of Peshawar on Tuesday withdrew a petition against their mysterious disappearance, claiming that their captors had assured them that they would be set free after withdrawal of the plea.

A single-member bench of PHC Chief Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim disposed of the petition filed by a female family member of the detainees, Gulalai Alkozai, after her counsel submitted an application for withdrawing her plea.

The petitioner had challenged the abduction of the four brothers from their residence at Hayatabad Township Peshawar allegedly by persons in police uniform on Feb 28, 2024. She had requested the court to order recovery of the detainees.

Lawyer says his client has been assured of their safe return

During pendency of the petition for last many months, the high court had summoned several high-ranking officers including provincial police chief but the whereabouts of the detainees couldn’t be traced. The petitioner continued to insist that the detainees were abducted by law enforcement agencies, local police denied the allegation.

Advocate Mohammad Muazzam Butt, representing the petitioner, submitted an application on her behalf, stating that it had been communicated to his client that for safe return of the abductees it would be required that the case might be withdrawn from the court. He said that the petitioner had been made to believe that withdrawal of the petition would lead to safe return of her family members.

He stated that in present circumstances, the petitioner decided to withdraw her plea with the permission to file a fresh one in case the abductees were not set free by their captors. He didn’t disclose as to who had approached the petitioner for withdrawal of the petition.

Earlier, the petitioner had stated that she belonged to a prominent business family and had been residing with other family members in Hayatabad. She claimed that at midnight on Feb 28, a contingent of police raided their residence and took away the four brothers named Mohammad Nasir Alkozai, Usman Alkozai, Abdul Waris Alkozai and Zahir Alkozai.

She said that the detainees were shifted to unknown location and since then their whereabouts were not known. She stated that police registered an FIR against the abduction of the detainees but there was no progress in the investigation.

She claimed that the police high-ups also assured the court that the detainees would be traced within two weeks’ time, but they failed to trace their whereabouts. She stated that CCTV footage of their abduction was available but local police had expressed ignorance regarding the occurrence.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2024