Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Friday declared that the dead bodies lying on roads in Balochistan gave the impression that there was no difference between human being and animals, as the police produced four missing Baloch tribesmen allegedly whisked away by intelligence agencies in court.
The CJ, who is in Quetta with Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Pervez, made these remarks while hearing the constitutional petition filed by SCBA President Hadi Shakeel regarding deteriorating law and order of Balochistan.
The CJ said police seemed under pressure and took no interest in recovering missing citizens rather they had joined the abductors. He also gave a strict warning that if a citizen was whisked away, the SHO of that area would be placed under suspension.
After warning about the suspension of IG police on the previous hearing, Quetta police eventually produced four of the seven missing people belonging to the Marri tribe before the Supreme Court bench on Friday. These seven persons were allegedly whisked away by intelligence agencies from Sariab Mill area of Quetta on March 1.
The CJ passed strict remarks over the recovery of two mutilated bodies on Friday from Mastung. He expressed his strong resentment over the absence of Attorney General Pakistan and directed him to appear on the next hearing and said he had already directed the AG on pervious hearing to ensure his presence.
Chief Justice Chaudhry ordered the suspension and arrest of New Sariab SHO Nur Baksh Mengal for his false statement before the court on previous hearing showing his ignorance about the missing persons.
Inspector General of Frontier Corps Balochistan Major General Obaidullah Khan Khattak also appeared before the court and categorically denied the charges against his force of being involved in whisking away citizens and killing them.
He said that he had already contradicted the allegations. “The contradictions are not enough and every next day we read news against FC of its involvement in kidnappings and dumping bodies,” the CJ said. The court said the FC was present to assist the police and Balochistan Levies and its involvement in such acts would create serious problems for the force. The court directed the FC IG to appear before the court along with complete report in this regard on the next date of hearing. The sister of Ghaffar Langov, who was whisked away and was later found dead, appeared before the Bench and submitted that her brother Ghaffar was abducted by personnel of intelligence agencies and later his body was dumped after execution.
She said her other brother, Dr Naseer and his two friends Hafiz Rudini and Akhtar Lango, were picked up from Killi Ismail in Quetta on April 3 by the same personnel.
The bench took notice of this incident and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain directed Saddar SP Tariq Manzoor to ensure the safe recovery of these missing persons by April 10, otherwise a case would be registered against him. Balochistan Home Secretary Naseebullah Khan informed the court that as many as 1,056 people, including 227 personnel of Frontier Corps and 196 police personnel, had been killed in Balochistan in different terrorism-related incidents since 2009, while 250 were killed in targeted sectarian attacks. The CJ expressed his anger by saying such a high figure indicated the failure of government and its functionaries. “The crimes are rising and there is no one to control it and protect common citizens,” he remarked.
“Until crime prevails, no one will be scared of committing crime and the government should establish its writ,” he said. He further said that police had become incompetent.
Meanwhile, a young Baloch lady who introduced herself as the daughter of a missing person Balakh Sher Marri, claimed that four persons who were produced before the court during the hearing had been kept in a dark room by intelligence personnel in illegal custody.
Talking to reporters outside the court, she thanked the chief justice for helping the missing persons’ families recover their missing relatives.
