The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday gave police another seven days to locate a National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) deputy director, who was allegedly abducted earlier this month.
The development came during the hearing of a petition filed by Rozina Usman for the recovery of her husband Muhammad Usman. She alleged that four armed individuals abducted her husband on October 14. At the previous hearing, the court had given the police three days to locate the missing official.
Resuming the hearing of the case today, Justice Muhammad Azam Khan asked the police about the progress made in the case.
“What is the progress? You were given three days,” said the justice.
District Superintendent of Police (DSP) Legal Sajid Cheema informed the court that investigations were “underway” to trace the NCCIA official, adding that the senior superintendent of police investigation was looking into the matter.
“The missing deputy director was investigating the Ducky Bhai case,” the DSP said, referring to a case[1] involving popular YouTuber Saadur Rehman.
The police official added that the “rest of the people investigating this case are also missing” and added that the police station investigating the case was in Lahore.
The senior police official also informed the court that the petitioner, Rozina, was previously in Lahore and then in Islamabad, according to data available till October 18. He said that her last address was Empress Road in Lahore, after which her phone had been switched off.
“When the investigating officer went to her house, he reported that the house was locked,” he said. Cheema added that the NCCIA official’s last location was pinpointed to Islamabad’s F-6 sector.
“If the WhatsApp data is found, everything will be known,” he claimed.
Meanwhile, the petitioner’s lawyer, Rizwan Abbasi, reiterated that his client was also “missing” after moving the plea in the IHC. He said that the last call the petitioner received was a threat to withdraw her plea.
At one point, the judge said that she might have been staying with her parents or her relatives.
“If she did go, did she go there willingly?” asked her lawyer. “A person was kidnapped from the federal capital; ten days have passed,” Abbasi added.
The court also ordered police to check Usman’s WhatsApp records to assist the investigation.
The DSP sought a week’s duration from the IHC to investigate the WhatsApp data. The court, accepting the request, granted another week for the recovery of the abductee and adjourned the hearing until next Friday.