Wife of NCCIA officer ‘goes missing’ as court takes up his abduction case

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday granted police three days to recover National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) Deputy Director Muhammad Usman, who was abducted from the federal capital earlier.

NCCIA Deputy Director Cybercrime Muhammad Usman was abducted from the basement of a parking area at Zara Heights, H-13. CCTV footage showed four armed men stopping his car and forcibly taking him away in a white Corolla.

IHC Judbe Justice Muhammad Azam Khan issued the directive while hearing a petition filed by Usman’s wife, Rozina Usman. During the hearing, it was revealed that Rozina herself had also gone missing.

Rozina’s lawyer, Raja Rizwan Abbasi, informed the court that he had been unable to contact her and feared she might also have been picked up.

“She called me earlier, saying she was being pressured to withdraw the petition. He said that her husband was working on sensitive cases and was abducted in a white Corolla. Now her phone is switched off,” Abbasi told the court.

He requested that the NCCIA director and Islamabad Inspector General of Police be summoned in person.

Police officials responded that they were making efforts to recover Usman and sought a seven-day extension. Abbasi countered that CCTV footage showed the victim being taken away in a suspicious vehicle with a fake number plate.

Justice Azam Khan questioned how such a vehicle could operate freely in the capital despite security checkpoints and surveillance cameras.

“This is a very serious matter,” the judge remarked. “If the police fail to recover him within three days, the NCCIA central director and Islamabad IG will have to appear before the court themselves. Find out through call data records who made the threatening calls to the petitioner.”

An assistant attorney general informed the court that a case had already been registered and requested additional time for investigation.

The court, however, granted police only three days to recover the abducted officer and adjourned the hearing.