He was hallucinating, disorientated and appeared to have been tortured.

Imran Munir, 27, is just one of hundreds of Pakistan's "disappeared" -- men detained without charge by the shadowy police and intelligence agencies.

Families of some of those missing gathered at the Supreme Court in Islamabad on Friday for the latest hearing in their fight to discover the fate of their loved ones.

It is a complex legal battle with growing political significance as military ruler President Pervez Musharraf faces major social unrest eight years after he seized power.

The public disorder, including deadly riots in Karachi two weeks ago, stems from Musharraf's suspension of Pakistan's top judge Iftikhar Muhammud Chaudhry, who has pushed authorities to reveal information about the missing.

Speaking outside court on Friday, Adeela Munir described how her brother was picked up in July 2006 by "the agencies," as Pakistan's intelligence services are universally known.

"He was with my father in Islamabad," she said. "Imran got a call telling him to report to the agencies. He had no reason to fear anything, so he went along. That was when he was taken."

His family heard nothing until the authorities recently admitted to holding Imran and, after a court order, two weeks ago an army officer drove Adeela in a blacked-out car to see him.

"He was afraid and weak. At first he did not recognise me," said Adeela.

"He is being tortured inside, we are being tortured outside. They say he is a spy, but he has never been charged," she told AFP. "The agencies are above the law."

The family suspect Imran was targeted over rumours he was having an affair with a relative of a senior ISI (Inter-Service Intelligence) agent.

If so, Imran is one of many men taken by the ISI, which is alleged to have used Pakistan's role in the US-led "war on terror" to pursue an agenda of revenge, control and suppression of opposition voices.

Some of those detained are thought to have been taken into US custody in Guantanamo Bay, others are thought to be Baluchistan separatists, government opponents, on the ISI's own hit list, or cases of mistaken identity.

The close links between the government, the ISI and the disappearances are exemplified by evidence given to the Supreme Court on Friday by Amna Masood.

Her husband, businessman Masood Janjua, has not been seen since July 30, 2005, when he left the family home in Rawalpindi to catch a bus to Peshawar.

Amna told the court that after influential family members begged authorities for news, Musharraf's military secretary telephoned to assure them that Janjua was alive, but could give no further information.

Amna, who now leads a group of families of the "disappeared", said outside the court: "President Musharraf promised he was going to help. My husband was picked up by mistake, but once the ISI have started, they can't back down.