HYDERABAD, Dec 29: Sindh High Court Hyderabad circuit bench here on Friday issued another contempt of court notice to Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) judge requiring him to explain as to why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him for flouting high court's order.

The court directed him to submit his explanation by January 5, 2007 and directed the jail authorities to produce detained person namely Abdul Qayoom before the court on the said date. The court also put the Additional Advocate General (AAG) Masood A.Noorani on notice in the matter.

The matter pertained to criminal miscellaneous application filed by Mohammad Sajid Baloch, seeking recovery of his brother, Abdul Qayoom, who he said was picked-up by Tando Adam police and kept in wrongful confinement since November 21.

He said that Tando Adam police raided applicant's house and took away his brother while misbehaving with womenfolk and added police did not have any lawful reason to conduct search.

SHO police stations Tando Adam, in-charge investigation, SP investigation Sanghar and DPO Sanghar were cited as respondents in the matter.

The applicant said that SHO Alan Abbasi told him to pay Rs30,000 as it were to be paid to one Khalid Mustafa otherwise “your brother would be implicated in false cases or killed in an staged encounter”.

He said that since then the detainee was being tortured by police and respondents were not allowing them to meet him. He added that he filed application before sessions judge Sanghar on November 28 but he preferred to call report from police despite the fact that he requested him that in the meantime the respondents would shift the detainee to some other place or implicate him in some other case. He added that later the detainee was shifted to Sinjhoro police station.

On December 27 the court appointed Ghulam Murtaza Shah, a reader of the court, as raid commissioner and directed him to release the detainee upon surety of personal bond in case he was found in illegal detention and if any proof of arrest was available then raid commissioner should record his statement and direct SHO to produce him before the court on December 29.

Following his raid on December 27 at the police station the raid commissioner submitted his report, apprising the court that he found the detainee in fetters in a room of police station Tando Adam. The detainee told him that he was in illegal custody of police for the last two months and he was kept at different police stations of the district adding that he had just been brought from Tando Mitha Khan.

SHO Tando Adam informed the raid commissioner that he was required in crime no 20/06 of police station Bhittai Nagar. However, the raid commissioner noted that he was not nominated in the FIR but his name was placed in challan sheet in the column of absconder. The court official directed TPO Zafar Iqbal Awan and SHO to produce him before court on December 29.