Ikramullah had been missing since October 2023 in the Farooqiya madrasa, in the Tajabad area.
A Peshawar citizen missing since 2023 from a religious seminary has been recovered and reunited with his family, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Information Department said. According to a press release, the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances held hearings on 22 petitions in KP.
Ikramullah, a citizen missing since October 19, 2023 from Farooqiya Madrasah in Tajabad area, was recovered through the efforts of the commission and presented before the court. He was later handed over to his relatives.
The KP commission member stated that cases of enforced disappearances will be reviewed periodically. He noted that this is an issue that has caused suffering to thousands of families for years. This is an important step towards justice, transparency and accountability, the statement added.
Who are the missing people?
According to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIED), a missing person means a person who has been arrested or detained by any law enforcement or intelligence agency, working under civilian or military control, contrary to the provisions of the law.
Persons missing in cases of kidnapping for ransom, personal feuds or on their own do not fall within the scope of forced disappearances, the commission said.
The commission has resolved 103 missing persons cases, while recording 11 new cases, during the month of August 2025, according to its monthly report.
According to data from the commission, the COIED also resolved 8,873 cases of the total 10,618 cases received between March 2011 and August 2025. This is equivalent to 83.56% of the total cases.
The resolution of 8,873 cases includes 6,809 people whose whereabouts have been located by the commission. The remaining 1,745 cases are under investigation in the Islamabad, Karachi, Quetta and Lahore Commission records.
The commission has also successfully started holding hearings of missing persons cases through video link, saving time and expense for interested parties as well as travel of families to and from Islamabad.
Commission formed to look into missing persons cases in KP
Last month, Peshawar High Court Chief Justice SM Atiq Shah had stated that the federal government had constituted a commission to deal with missing persons cases and all such cases would be examined by it. Justice (retd) Afsar Shah has been officially notified as a member of the commission.
The statements were made during the hearing of petitions seeking the recovery of missing persons. During the proceedings, the petitioners’ lawyers, the Deputy Attorney General, the Additional Advocate General and the person in charge of missing persons appeared before the court.
Initially, the CJ noted that the Home Office had confirmed the activation of the commission and its mandate to hear cases involving agencies. The coordinator also reiterated that all cases against agencies related to enforced disappearances will now be under the jurisdiction of the commission.
