Anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan \u2014 who had been missing for more than four months \u2014 is now \u201csafe at home\u201d, Punjab Inspector General (IG) Dr Usman Anwar confirmed to Dawn.com on Monday.<\/p>\n

Sialkot District Police Officer (DPO) Hassan Iqbal and Riaz\u2019s lawyer, Mian Ali Ashfaq, also confirmed the development to Dawn.com.<\/p>\n

Riaz \u2014 a YouTuber and television anchor \u2014 was arrested two days after violent protests broke out across the country following PTI Chairman Imran Khan\u2019s arrest on May 9.<\/p>\n

He was last known to be taken to Cantt police station after his arrest and later to the Sialkot prison. On May 15, a law officer told the Lahore High Court (LHC) that the anchorperson was released from jail after taking an undertaking in writing.<\/p>\n

On September 20, the LHC had given the Punjab police chief a \u201clast opportunity\u201d to recover Riaz by September 26 (tomorrow). During the hearing, LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti had stated that his patience was \u201crunning out\u201d<\/p>\n

In a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) during the early hours of Monday, the Sialkot police said, \u201cJournalist\/anchor Mr Imran Riaz Khan has been safely recovered. He is now with his family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Separately, his lawyer Ashfaq, said in a post on X, \u201cBy God\u2019s special blessing, grace, and mercy, I have brought back my prince.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took a lot of time due to the mountain of difficulties, the last limit of understanding of the matter, a weak judiciary, and the current ineffective public constitution and legal helplessness,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Weak, not in the best of health\u2019<\/p>\n

Journalist Wajahat S Khan said that he had spoken to Riaz\u2019s family, adding that the anchorperson was \u201cweak and not in the best of health but he\u2019s back\u201d.<\/p>\n

PTI leader Hammad Azhar said that the entire nation was rejoicing over Riaz\u2019s return.<\/p>\n

Lawyer Khadija Siddiqi termed the development a \u201cpositive sign\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cLatest modus operandi of brazenly silencing voices of dissent seems to have failed miserably! Citizens of Pakistan must not be antagonised by our own state!\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The PTI, meanwhile, called for the release of all political prisoners under \u201cillegal incarceration\u201d. \u201cLaw and sense must prevail,\u201d the party said.<\/p>\n

Timeline<\/p>\n

Imran Riaz \u2014 a YouTuber and television anchor \u2014 was arrested two days after violent protests broke out across the country following PTI Chairman Imran Khan\u2019s arrest on May 9.<\/p>\n

He was last known to be taken to Cantt police station after his arrest and later to the Sialkot prison. On May 15, a law officer had told the LHC that the anchorperson was released from jail after taking an undertaking in writing. His whereabouts however remained unknown.<\/p>\n

Subsequently, a first information report (FIR) of Riaz\u2019s alleged abduction was registered with Sialkot Civil Lines police on May 16 on the complaint of the anchorperson\u2019s father, Muhammad Riaz.<\/p>\n

The FIR was registered against \u201cunidentified persons\u201d and police officials for allegedly kidnapping Riaz, invoking Section 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person) of the Pakistan Penal Code.<\/p>\n

The journalist\u2019s father had also filed a plea in the LHC for his recovery.<\/p>\n

During a May 19 hearing of the case, the anchorperson\u2019s father had become teary-eyed in the LHC, pleading for mercy, as the whereabouts of his son remained unknown. The next day, the LHC chief justice had ordered the police to recover and present the anchorperson by May 22.<\/p>\n

On that date, the LHC had directed the ministries of interior and defence to \u201cdischarge their constitutional duties to effect the recovery\u201d of the anchorperson after IG Anwar revealed that there was no trace of the journalist at any police department across the country.<\/p>\n

The LHC was subsequently informed that both the Inter-Services Intelligence and the Military Intelligence had said the anchorperson was not in their custody. On May 26, the high court had directed \u201call the agencies\u201d to work together to find the anchorperson and produce him in the court by May 30.<\/p>\n

When that date arrived, IG Anwar had told the LHC that phone numbers that had been traced back to Afghanistan were involved in the case.<\/p>\n

The anchorperson\u2019s lawyer had contended in the June 6 hearing that their patience was \u201cwearing thin\u201d even as the Punjab government had informed the high court that efforts to find the journalist were underway.<\/p>\n

During the July 5 hearing, the LHC had established a deadline of July 25 for the police to locate the missing journalist. However, no hearing could be held on the designated date due to the bench\u2019s unavailability.<\/p>\n

In that particular hearing, retired Brigadier Falak Naz, representing the Ministry of Defence, had informed the court: \u201cWe are working on tracing locations and other issues. We are trying to recover Imran Riaz as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

On September 6, IG Anwar had told LHC that the police would deliver \u201cgood news\u201d in the next few days, following which he was granted time till September 13.<\/p>\n

However, failing to deliver any major \u201cgood news\u201d, the IG on September 13 had assured the court that the probe was \u201cgoing in the right direction\u201d.<\/p>\n

On September 20, the LHC had given the Punjab police chief a \u201clast opportunity\u201d to recover Riaz by September 26, adjourning the proceedings in a petition demanding his recovery till then.<\/p>\n

Source: DAWN<\/a><\/p>

The post TV anchor Imran Riaz Khan \u2018safe at home\u2019 after being missing for over 4 months<\/a> first appeared on Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan \u2014 who had been missing for more than four months \u2014 is now \u201csafe at home\u201d, Punjab Inspector General (IG) Dr Usman Anwar confirmed to Dawn.com on Monday. Sialkot District Police Officer (DPO) Hassan Iqbal and Riaz\u2019s lawyer, Mian Ali Ashfaq, also confirmed the development to Dawn.com. Riaz \u2014 a YouTuber [\u2026]<\/p>\n

The post TV anchor Imran Riaz Khan \u2018safe at home\u2019 after being missing for over 4 months<\/a> first appeared on Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[4],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11529"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11529"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11529\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11530,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11529\/revisions\/11530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}