Lahore police Deputy Inspector General (Investigation) Kamran Adil told the high court on Thursday that both the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Military Intelligence (MI) had said that anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan – whose whereabouts remain unknown since his arrest on May 11 – was not in their custody.
The police official made the remarks as the Lahore High Court (LHC) resumed hearing a plea seeking the recovery of the anchorperson, who was among the individuals apprehended in the wake of protests that erupted in the country after the arrest of PTI chairman Imran Khan.
Later, his lawyer said a writ petition was filed on May 12 over the anchorperson’s arrest and the LHC directed the attorney general to present him before the court the same day. But, after its orders were not followed, Sialkot police were given a 48-hour deadline to recover Imran. A first information report (FIR) pertaining to the matter was registered with Civil Lines police on May 16 on the complaint of the anchorperson’s father, Muhammad Riaz. The FIR was registered against “unidentified persons” and police officials for allegedly kidnapping Imran, invoking Section 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
At the previous hearing, Punjab Inspector General Dr Usman Anwar had told the court that there was no trace of the journalist at any police department across the country. The LHC had subsequently directed the ministries of interior and defence to “discharge their constitutional duties to effect the recovery” of the missing anchorperson.