KARACHI - The Sindh High Court on Thursday ordered police to accelerate the investigation for the recovery of missing children by using model devices in the process. The court also sought progress report of such cases by November 15.

Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Amin Yousufzai appeared before a division bench headed by Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto and submitted a report regarding investigation of the cases of missing children.

A none-government organization, Roshni Research and Development Welfare, had filed a petition seeking safe recovery of the missing children those went missing and allegedly abducted from different parts of the city.

During the hearing, the bench was informed that Inspector General of Sindh police has assigned DIG CIA to monitor missing children cases and to remain in contact with other provincial police. 

The DIG has informed the court that prior to a previous hearing, two missing children had been covered.  He, however, added that the police were succeeded to recover two more missing children through advertising the information about the missing children in English Urdu and in Sindhi newspapers, one missing child was recovered from Faisalabad and other was Karachi’s Korangi. 

According to the police report as many as 129 missing children were recovered since 2014, the police managed to chase the newly launched missing children cases, however, police are still facing difficulties in old cases which remained pending in the past.

Mr Yousufzai, also submitted that the police had earlier, recovered three children, but could not trace the culprits behind their kidnappings.

The bench expressed its dissatisfaction over the lack of progress and remarked that proper work for the recovery of missing children was not being done.

The petitioner’s lawyer has alleged that the police still failed to recover more than 20 missing children and adopted delayed tactics to launch cases.

On the occasion, parents of a missing girl Saima from the Baldia area appeared before the bench and said that the police were not being cooperative.

The bench remarked that it was a very dangerous and sensitive issue and the victim families must be responded by the police, and the court also ordered the police to look into all its aspects.

The court directed the police should work seriously for the recovery of the children and should use model devices in the process.

Following the court’s proceeding, DIG Yousafzai talked to the media informally and told that major steps have been taken in this regard, and they also had contacted the police and Joint Protection Bureaus of all provinces. He added that they were also contacting the family members of the missing children.