ISLAMABAD: The lawyer who filed several petitions in the past for the recovery of missing persons and against administrative role of the army or the armed forces is in the custody of an agency of the Ministry of Defence.

A representative of the ministry revealed this during the hearing of a petition filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi bench.

Col (R) Inamur Raheem was abducted from his house in Rawalpindi on December 16.

His son Hasnain Inam later moved a petition in the LHC for recovery of his father.

According to the petitioner, Col Inam was whisked away in a car with black windows, while another vehicle with black windows followed.

“The incident occurred around midnight and some unidentified men threatening us of dire consequences in case we reported to police took my father away,” he said in the complaint filed with Morgah Police Station.

A single bench of the LHC comprising Justice Mirza Viqas Rauf took up the petition and summoned a representative of the Defecne Ministry to explain where Col Inam was being kept and under which charges.

The defence ministry official informed the LHC Rawalpindi bench on Thursday that the retired colonel was in the custody of its subordinate agency and that he was being probed for alleged violation of the Official Secret Act.

He was taken into custody under the Pakistan Army Act (PAA) for alleged violation of the Official Secret Act, further submitted the Defence Ministry official.

He however did not specify exactly what violations had been committed by the detained lawyer.

Besides, filing petitions for the production of missing persons, Col Inam was also the counsel in petitions against high profile cases such as court martial proceedings about the GHQ attack and conviction of naval officers and others.

On Thursday, counsel for the petitioner, Advocate Ahsanuddin Shaikh and Brig (R) Wasaf Khan Niazi appeared before the court to argue for the petition seeking recovery of advocate Col Raheem.

Advocate Shaikh said that in case Col Raheem had violated the Official Secret Act, he should have been dealt with in accordance with the law as revelations about his whereabouts had been made in the LHC three weeks since his disappearance.

When asked, a deputy attorney general of the government could not satisfy the judge regarding grounds for the arrest of Col Inamur Raheem. On this the judge directed Additional Attorney General to appear before the court and give details regarding the colonel’s detention.