Published on: 13 July 2023 at 13:30 IST
The Delhi High Court has requested a response from the Indian government regarding the case of a woman whose brother disappeared in Kenya. The court issued notice to the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs based on a plea filed by Anis Fatima Zachariah. She claims that her brother, Zulfikar Ahmed Khan, went missing in Kenya in July of the previous year. Justice Subramonium Prasad, presiding over the case, has asked for a status report from the ministries within two weeks.
The matter has been scheduled for further hearing in August. Khan, a former Chief Operating Officer (CO) of Balaji Telefilms, had worked with other prominent media organizations such as Eros, Star TV India, and Warner Brothers. According to the petitioner, her brother and his friends were intercepted and their vehicle was hijacked by individuals posing as police officers in July. The petition, presented by advocates Vishant Singh and Sagarika Tanwar, alleges that Khan and his friends are being detained on the instructions of the local Kenyan police.
The petitioner has no information regarding their current whereabouts or whether they are alive or in custody. The family has notified the Indian Embassy in Kenya and has also filed a Habeas Corpus petition in the Kenyan High Court to locate and produce Khan and the others involved. The matter was also reported to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), but no action has been taken thus far. The petitioner seeks direction from Indian authorities to take note of the situation and investigate it.