PHC seeks IGP report on minister's 'abduction'

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Friday sought a report from the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Inspector General of Police, on a petition seeking the recovery of provincial minister Fazal Shakoor Khan and adjourned the hearing until October 1. A two-member bench comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Kamran Hayat Miankhel heard the writ petition. Advocates Bashir Khan Wazir, Ali Zaman, Barrister Sarwar Shah and others appeared for the petitioner. Counsel Bashir Khan Wazir informed the court that the petitioner's brother, provincial minister Fazal Shakoor, was travelling to Peshawar when he was forcibly taken from his vehicle near the Peshawar toll plaza. Police checkpoints were present on the other side of the road, yet no action was taken, he said. Justice Syed Arshad Ali asked whether the minister was going to Islamabad or coming to Peshawar. The counsel replied that he was on his way to Peshawar when he was abducted. The lawyer further stated that the Speaker of the provincial assembly had summoned the IGP to the assembly, but the officer did not appear. He requested the court to summon the IGP, arguing that the officer knew the minister's whereabouts. An additional application seeking a judicial inquiry into the matter had also been filed and was available on the court file, he added.