The Ministry of Defence on Thursday denied custody of man who was allegedly picked by the law enforcement agencies at Islamabad's international airport upon his arrival from Qatar. On Thursday, Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge Justice Aamir Farooq resumed the hearing of a case for the recovery of Nisar Ahmed filed by his wife Dilshad Begum.
Nisar was detained by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on June 1, 2015 and later allegedly handed over to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Arslan Taimur, an assistant director of the ministry of defence, informed the court that Ahmed was not in the custody of defence ministry or the ISI. Moreover, his details have been forwarded to the Military Intelligence but their reply was still awaited.
The court directed the deputy attorney general (DAG) Hasnain Ibrahim Kazmi to contact the FIA to trace the whereabouts of the Ahmed. The court further directed that the interior ministry can also be approached to get the information why they had placed Ahmed's name on the exit control list (ECL). Further hearing in this matter has been adjourned after Eid holidays.
She cited interior secretary, FIA director general, FIA police station SHO, defense secretary and directors general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence as respondents. The petitioner claimed that on June 1 they were kept at the airport for the whole day and at the end of the day, FIA allowed them to go home and kept Ahmed in custody, saying he would be released in a day after necessary investigation.
Next day, FIA officials told the petitioner that her husband was now in custody of the ISI for further inquiry and will be released in a couple of days. On June 5, the officials of the agency brought Ahmed to his home in Swat for a meeting with the family and assured them that he would be released in three to four days after completion of inquiry, Dilshad stated in the petition. However, Dilshad submitted an appeal before Commander 11 Corps for releasing her husband but there was no response from army. The petitioner prayed before the court to direct the respondents to release her husband and produce him before a court, and also to delete his name from the ECL and restrain the respondents to curtain his liberty.