The Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Rawalpindi bench has issued a ‘final deadline’ for the recovery of Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, with a directive to the police to find the former federal interior minister by October 26.
Following the arrest, Sheikh Rashid’s nephew filed a petition with the LHC’s same bench on September 18, seeking the police’s assistance in producing his uncle, along with a brother and two servants.
On September 22, the LHC summoned Rawalpindi Regional Police Officer (RPO) Syed Khurram Ali to appear on September 26 to address the former lawmaker’s arrest.
On October 11, the LHC’s Pindi bench ordered the registration of a case against the top police officers of the garrison city for their failure to trace Rashid’s whereabouts.
Sheikh Rasheed, a key ally of PTI, has been missing since his arrest from his residence in Rawalpindi on September 17, and there has been no information regarding his whereabouts, as confirmed by his lawyer, Sardar Abdul Razzak Khan. Khan stated, “Men in plainclothes arrested Sheikh Rashid from his residence,” asserting that the former interior minister had been relocated to an “undisclosed location.”
On September 21, the Evacuee Trust Property Board sealed Lal Haveli, Rashid Ahmed’s political office and public secretariat, after the board chairman canceled the building’s registry.
During the hearing, Additional Attorney General Malik Siddique Awan presented a report from City Police Officer (CPO) Khalid Hamdani, asserting that Rashid was neither in their custody nor had he been arrested by the Rawalpindi police. The report indicated that the case was under the jurisdiction of Islamabad police.
On September 26, Rashid’s lawyer argued that his client was arrested by the Rawalpindi police, but the police denied having him in their custody. The court then directed the police to locate the AML chief’s whereabouts and make all possible efforts for his recovery.
In the latest development, a one-judge bench led by Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan resumed the case. RPO Khurram Ali reported to the court that Sheikh Rashid Ahmed was not in police custody. He requested more time, stating, “We are trying, give us time, and we will recover him.” Accepting the request, Justice Khan ordered the police authorities to produce the former security czar by the next hearing, scheduled for October 26.
