Daily Times

Hyderabad: Hyderabad-based rights activist Punhal Sario was allegedly abducted on his way back home on Thursday night by a group of armed men dressed in police uniforms.

His colleagues say a complaint for registration of an abduction case was submitted with GOR police station after higher ups denied that the activist was in police custody. Sario’s colleagues told Daily Times that he was returning home from a birthday party when his vehicle was intercepted in front of Qasimabad police station in Hyderabad. Armed men dressed in police uniform held him at gunpoint and later took him away, they add. Activist Ali Parlh said that the city police had denied arresting Sario, who was also the general secretary of the Voice of Sindhi Missing Persons. Parlh said when contacted Hyderabad DIG Khadim Hussain Rind said that the missing activist was not in custody.

A complaint was then filed with the GOR police station for registration of an abduction case, he added. Repeated attempts to contact GOR police station house officer Ayub Soomro failed since his cell phone was found powered off. Meanwhile, Sindh-based rights groups have announced protest demonstrations on Sunday to demand prompt action for safe recovery of the activist. Parlh said a petition against Sario’s abduction would also be filed in the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday. An All Parties Conference (APC) of Sindhi nationalists, civil society activists and media persons would soon be organised to discuss the matter of enforced disappearances in the province. Sario was among the leading voices for protection of fundamental rights of the people.

“He was leading a campaign for recovery of missing persons. Two weeks ago, he led a long march from Hyderabad to Karachi,” Parlh said. In its recent issued concluding remarks following Pakistan’s first ever review on the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) had expressed concerns over violations of human rights, including the right to due process.

Published in Daily Times, August 5^th 2017.