April 23, 2026
By Muhammad Danyal
PESHAWAR
The issue of enforced disappearances in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has once again come to the fore, this time with the case of Zahid Ullah — a computer science lecturer at Kohat Degree College — who was allegedly abducted by unidentified individuals from within the college premises on April 7. He has not been seen or heard from since.
His brother, Muhammad Naeem, a resident of Karak district, has filed a petition before the Peshawar High Court seeking Zahid Ullah’s recovery. After two weeks of reaching out to every available authority without result, the family took their plea to the judiciary — the only door still open to them.
‘Why was the footage erased?’
What has made the case particularly alarming is the apparent deletion of CCTV footage from cameras installed on the college premises — the only potential evidence of what took place that day. “If everything was above board, why was the footage erased? Someone is clearly trying to hide the truth,” Muhammad Naeem, brother of the missing lecturer, told Voicepk.
A question of state accountability
The petitioner’s counsel, Advocate Javed Ahmad Kakar, described the case as one of grave public importance.
“A teacher disappearing in this manner from a state-run educational institution casts serious doubt on the functioning of state institutions,” he said. “This is not merely one man’s disappearance — it is a symptom of systemic failure.”
During the hearing, Chief Justice S.M. Atiq Shah of the Peshawar High Court remarked that individuals disappearing from educational institutions in this manner is deeply troubling and cannot be overlooked. The court directed police to immediately register a First Information Report (FIR) and summoned a detailed report from the Regional Police Officer (RPO), Kohat.
A widening crisis
Legal expert Advocate Lajbar Khan situates Zahid Ullah’s case within a far broader pattern.
“Petitions of this nature are being filed before the Peshawar High Court on a daily basis,” he said. “The burden on the courts continues to mount, while the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances is itself buried under hundreds of pending cases. Until a robust accountability mechanism is established, this cycle will not end.”
Data from the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIED) indicates that over 10,000 cases have been reported from across the country since 2011. While a significant number have been resolved, hundreds remain pending. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the tribal districts consistently rank among the most severely affected regions.
A family’s anguish
Zahid Ullah’s case is, at its core, the story of a family in anguish — a brother who has spent two weeks knocking on every door, only to be met with silence. But it is also a test of something larger: whether state institutions, law enforcement agencies, and the justice system can deliver accountability when one of their own fails.
His recovery is no longer just a family’s demand. It has become a measure of how seriously Pakistan takes the fundamental rights of its citizens — and whether those who enforce the law are themselves subject to it.