KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Thursday directed a deputy inspector general of police to provide details of 18 missing children to the Federal Investigation Agency to check their travel history.

The two-judge bench of the SHC headed by Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto, who was hearing a petition about missing children, also directed DIG CIA Amin Yusufzai and assistant director of FIA anti-human trafficking cell Abdul Hameed Bhutto to come up with progress reports on Feb 21.

The bench also asked the DIG to specify in the progress report the steps taken to recover each individual missing child and the locations from where the children went missing.

Earlier, the bench had summoned the provincial chief of FIA after a question raised about the possibility of using these children in human trafficking. On Thursday, director FIA Sindh Munir Ahmed Shaikh appeared and informed the bench that Mr Bhutto had been tasked with investigating the issue of the missing children.

The DIG CIA, who is heading a committee to make efforts for recovery of the missing children, through a progress report submitted that a meeting was held with the FIA officials and they sought details of Form-B of the missing children in order to find if they were taken out of the country.

The report further contended that the DIG directed the SSP AVCC to make efforts to compile a list of missing children, including Form-B, adding that the investigating officers had also visited the interior part of Sindh and Balochistan to locate the children. The DIG contended that he provided the required details to the FIA.

However, the bench directed the DIG to provide complete details of Form-B of the 18 missing children to the FIA for check their travel history.

On the directive of the SHC, the police had registered 23 FIRs regarding missing children at various city police stations. Later, five of them returned home.

Officials summoned

Another bench of the SHC on Thursday directed the secretaries of the health and works departments to appear on Friday (today) after the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) highlighted some deficiencies in the under-construction Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical College and Lyari General Hospital.

A two-judge bench of the SHC headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar issued the directive while hearing a petition moved by some candidates interested in taking admission to the college in Lyari against a decision of the PMDC for reducing the seats from 100 to 50.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2019