Police have till October 26 to bring former interior minister Sheikh Rashid before the Lahore High Court (LHC)’s Rawalpindi bench, the court announced on Thursday.
During the hearing of a petition seeking the release of Awami Muslim League chairman and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ally since his arrest from Islamabad on September 17, Judge Sadaqat Ali Khan issued the ultimatum.
At today’s hearing, the Regional Police Officer (RPO) testified that neither the Chief Police Officer (CPO) nor any other officers or officials from the SSP Operations were engaged in the arrest of Rashid.
When the court was informed that police were making efforts to recover the AML leader, it granted their request for an extension of time in which to do so.
“The former interior minister should be produced in court at the next hearing,” said the judge.
Final opportunity
The Pindi RPO was given a last deadline to retrieve the AML chief at the last hearing earlier this month.
The RPO was also instructed to investigate the disappearance of the former home minister and to take any necessary legal action against the City Police Officer, the SSP Operations, DSP Mirza Javed, and the SHOs of the Waris Khan, New Town, Civil Lines, and Westridge police stations.
Today was supposed to be the day when the RPO gave the court his findings on the matter.
Concerns about the safety of the former security czar have only increased in the month since he , his nephew and a housekeeper vanished from the nation’s capital.
The LHC’s Rawalpindi Bench ordered the former interior minister’s appearance ‘within a week’ earlier this month. The LHC granted Rawalpindi police a “last chance” to bring back the AML chief during the hearing.
