The Supreme Court on May 3 directed the Balochistan Inspector
General of Police
(IGP) to produce
all missing persons
before the court
and submit a progress
report, reports
Daily Times.
“People accuse FC
or security agencies
of illegal arrests
but police have
to investigate these
cases,” Chief Justice
of Pakistan (CJP)
Iftikhar Muhammad
Chaudhry remarked
during a hearing
of missing persons’
cases at the court’s
Quetta Registry.
The CJP also summoned
Balochistan Home
Minister Zafarullah
Zehri again today
(May 4) to explain
his statement accusing
three provincial
ministers of involvement
in kidnappings for
ransom.
Further, the bench expressed strong resentment when informed
that Home Minister
Zehri did not disclose
the names of ministers
allegedly involved
in kidnappings for
ransom. “We can
take action against
the home minister
in accordance with
law if he was lying
earlier,” remarked
Justice Khilji Arif
Hussain. The CJP
said it means the
minister had maligned
the constitutional
government by levelling
serious allegations
against provincial
ministers. He directed
Police officers
to interrogate the
minister and make
a breakthrough in
this case.
He criticised the Police and Provincial Government, saying
law enforcement
agencies had failed
to produce a single
missing person even
after a lapse of
three days since
the court passed
its orders in this
regard. He said
FC, ISI,
MI and IB had told the court the missing persons were not in their custody,
while Police officials
said they were unaware
of the whereabouts
of the missing persons.
Chaudhry, however, said the situation in Balochistan is not
as bad as is being
portrayed outside
the Province. He
expressed this during
a meeting with the
Supreme Court Bar
Association’s Executive
Committee, including
SCBA President Yasin
Azad, who called
on him at the Supreme
Court Quetta Registry.
The CJP said it
was not completely
true that no one
was safe in Balochistan
as all office-bearers
met their relatives,
friends and lawyers
in Quetta, which shows the situation
was not bad enough
that people could
not move freely.
He hoped the suo
motu action
would bear fruit
and help restore
law and order in
Balochistan.
In addition, a SCBA Executive Committee member said that Balochistan
needs a good administrator
to resolve its issues,
as the incumbent
provincial Government
had failed to resolve
people’s problems.
He said the committee
believed there were
three main issues
in Balochistan:
target killing,
missing persons
and kidnapping for
ransom, but Police
were too scared
to take steps to
resolve these issues.
He also said some
authoritative persons
in the province
had told them if
Police were empowered
and FC were withdrawn
then the Province’s
situation could
stabilise. | 
