Daily Times

KARACHI: Expressing serious concern over a large number of unidentified and unclaimed bodies in Edhi and other morgues, the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday ordered authorities concerned to evolve a mechanism involving a DNA databank to identity the deceased individuals.

A bench headed by Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui gave this direction while hearing a petition seeking the whereabouts of two missing men said to be associated with a banned outfit.

The judges were informed that there were over 85,000 unidentified bodies in Edhi morgue alone, out of which only 1,986 could be identified.

They observed that this data was collected from Edhi morgue and graveyard where these bodies are buried; however, the number could be more than that as other charity organisations are also doing the same work. “Hence, the possibility of missing persons killed in suicide bombings, who couldn’t be identified, could not be ruled out,” they added.

The court was hearing the petition filed by Uzma Shahzad seeking the recovery of her two sons – Maaz Ahmed Khan and Talha Ahmed Khan – who have been missing since April 4, 2014.

Several joint investigation teams have been formed to locate them but to no avail, noted the judges.

“It is quite surprising and also alarming that the law enforcement agencies are not performing their duties in so far as to locate the detainees not only in this case but in several other matters coming before this court.” The bench said that as many as six JITs have been formed to locate the two brothers but no progress was made so far as to recovery of the detainees. “The law enforcement agencies keep filing reports to show their efficiency which in fact is contrary to the facts and circumstances.”

The court was told that the relevant authorities were developing a mechanism to identify all such persons who remained unidentified.