Masood Ahmad Janjua Pending case Mystery
Masood Ahmed Janjua was an ordinary Pakistani businessman. He belonged to Rawalpindi and was involved in computer-related work and trading. He was not a political figure, not a militant, and not someone known for controversy. On 30 July 2005, he left Rawalpindi for Peshawar along with his friend Faisal Faraz. It was meant to be a routine trip. There was no sense of danger, no warning signs, and nothing unusual about their departure. They informed their families that they would return within a few days. That brief conversation turned out to be the last contact their families ever had with them.
The bus departed from Rawalpindi as scheduled. According to available records and passengers’ accounts, there was no reported argument, accident, or unusual incident during the journey. However, when the bus reached Peshawar, Masood Ahmed Janjua and Faisal Faraz were not among the passengers who got off. From that moment onward, both men vanished without a trace. Their mobile phones were switched off, and every attempt to contact them failed. No message, no call, and no explanation ever came.
At first, their families assumed there might have been a delay or some minor travel issue. Hours passed, then days, and the silence continued. Anxiety turned into fear. A missing persons report was filed with the police. Initially, the case was treated as an ordinary disappearance. But as time passed and no clue emerged, it became clear that this was not a simple missing persons case. There was no ransom demand, no criminal claim of responsibility, and no evidence pointing toward a conventional kidnapping.
Months later, the case took a disturbing turn. Several individuals who had themselves been missing for long periods and were later released came forward with statements in court. They claimed that they had seen Masood Ahmed Janjua and Faisal Faraz inside secret detention centers. These testimonies changed the entire nature of the case. What was once considered a disappearance was now alleged to be an enforced disappearance, raising serious questions about state involvement.
The matter eventually reached the Supreme Court of Pakistan, which took suo motu notice. Various government institutions were asked to submit reports. At one stage, the government informed the court that Masood Ahmed Janjua and Faisal Faraz had allegedly been killed by Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. The claim was based on the assertion that their laptops and data contained links to extremist elements.
This explanation immediately raised serious doubts. If they had indeed been killed abroad, where were their bodies? Where were the graves? Why was no DNA evidence, death certificate, or independent verification presented? The families outright rejected this narrative, calling it baseless and fabricated. The Supreme Court also expressed dissatisfaction, as the state failed to provide any concrete proof to support its claim.
Years continued to pass. Different governments came into power, yet the fate of the two men remained unknown. Sometimes the case was heard in the Supreme Court, and at other times it was referred to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances. The commission repeatedly stated that due to the absence of conclusive evidence, no final determination could be made. As a result, the case kept circulating between institutions, files moving from one office to another without any meaningful outcome.
Masood Ahmed Janjua’s wife, Amina Masood Janjua, refused to give up. She became one of the strongest voices against enforced disappearances in Pakistan. She united families of other missing persons, organized protests on the streets, filed petitions in courts, and took the issue to international human rights organizations. Over time, her husband’s case became a symbol of the suffering of thousands of families facing similar uncertainty.
Even today, after nearly two decades, it has not been proven whether Masood Ahmed Janjua is alive or dead. No perpetrator has been identified, and no institution has accepted responsibility. Official statements contradict eyewitness testimonies, and alleged intelligence reports clash with the accounts of former detainees. These contradictions lie at the heart of why the case remains unresolved.
This case is both unsolved and pending. Unsolved because the truth has never been established, and pending because legally the file has never been closed. It still exists in court records and commission reports, yet it has reached no conclusion.
Masood Ahmed Janjua’s name is no longer just the name of an individual. It has become a symbol of judicial delay, institutional failure, and the unanswered questions surrounding enforced disappearances in Pakistan. For almost twenty years, one question continues to haunt the nation and his family: Is he alive, or was he killed? And if he was killed, who did it, when did it happen, and why?
To this day, no one has provided an answer.
