PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday summoned the investigation officer in the alleged kidnapping case of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Public Health Engineering Fazal Shakoor Khan and adjourned proceedings until September 25.
A division bench comprising Senior Puisne Judge Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Kamran Hayat Miankhel heard a petition seeking the minister’s recovery.
The petitioner’s lawyer told the court that unidentified armed men allegedly abducted Shakoor near the Peshawar M-1 motorway toll plaza in broad daylight. He claimed the men, dressed in plain clothes, fired at the tyres of the minister’s vehicle before taking him away.
Court Questions Police Response to Alleged Abduction
During the hearing, Justice Ijaz Anwar questioned the identity of the armed men and asked what police personnel were doing when the incident occurred.
The petitioner’s counsel said police and Excise Department checkpoints operated near the alleged abduction site, but personnel stationed there did not intervene.
Meanwhile, the government lawyer confirmed that authorities had registered an FIR. Additional Advocate General Bilal Khalil also requested a judicial inquiry into the incident.
Consequently, the bench summoned the investigation officer for the next hearing.
Minister’s Family Seeks Recovery and High-Level Inquiry
The petition was filed on Tuesday after Shakoor and two people accompanying him allegedly disappeared near the M-1 toll plaza.
An FIR registered at Chamkani police station on the complaint of Shakoor’s brother, retired Major Anwar Aziz, identified the other two as driver Qaiser Khan and Constable Mujahid.
Furthermore, the petition asked the PHC to direct police and other law enforcement agencies to recover the minister.
It also sought a high-level inquiry committee under senior provincial police officials to investigate the circumstances surrounding the alleged kidnapping. The family said Shakoor’s whereabouts remained unknown.
