ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has summoned the Director Inspector General of Investigation on December 9 in connection with the alleged abduction of a woman and her three minor daughters from Lahore and Bahawalpur.
The case is linked to a financial dispute involving former PIA Chief Executive Officer Musharraf Rasool.
The court directed the DIG to clarify whether statements from the Lahore police officers involved in the raid had been recorded and whether those carrying out the operation held valid search warrants. Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani stressed that any removal of individuals without a warrant amounts to abduction, emphasizing the court’s intent to uncover the truth in a case involving the humiliation of a woman and her children.
The petition alleges that police officials, acting on behalf of unidentified parties, abducted Sana Sohail, wife of Sohail Aleem, along with her daughters — 12-year-old Harim, seven-year-old Laiba, and three-year-old Nimra — from Lahore on September 17. The family was later implicated in a fabricated criminal case registered at Tarnol police station in Islamabad. CCTV footage reportedly shows the family being taken into custody at around 7 a.m. and transported to Islamabad, where they were subsequently shown as arrested in a First Information Report filed three days later under the Pakistan Penal Code and Arms Ordinance.
Advocate Sardar Latif Khosa, representing the petitioner, claimed that Musharraf Rasool, an influential bureaucrat, used his position to violate the sanctity of the family’s home. The court has previously expressed dissatisfaction with a police committee report, warning that cases would be registered against officers responsible and calling on the FIA to investigate.
During proceedings, the financial dispute between Rasool and Waqas Ahmed and Sohail Aleem was also addressed. Justice Kayani remarked that while one court order had been suspended by the Supreme Court, subsequent orders remain in effect. “You cannot prevent this court from functioning. We are seeking the truth in a matter where a woman and her children were humiliated,” he stated.
The judge criticized systemic inaction across multiple authorities, including the police, FIA, magistrates, and higher courts, noting that a three-year-old child was kept apart from her mother for six days. “The law’s helplessness in abduction cases is shameful,” he observed.
The court adjourned the hearing until December 9, summoning the DIG Investigation Islamabad to provide detailed clarifications regarding the raid, the statements taken, and the legality of the removal of the woman and her children.
