Lahore: A team of Lahore Police arrested anchor person Imran Riaz Khan from Chakwal and handed over a case registered against him at the Civil Lines police station to the city’s Crime Investigation Agency (CIA).
The case was registered by Muhammad Asif, a resident of Faiz Bagh area of Lahore, on charges of inciting rebellion and criticizing state institutions.
The journalist, who was detained by Attock police near Islamabad on Tuesday night, was relieved by a local court in the early hours of Thursday, but was immediately arrested outside the courtroom by a team of Chakwal police.
Before he was transferred to Lahore, a local court in Chakwal district had allowed his judicial remand.
To appear in the latest First Information Report (FIR) against Mr Khan, the complainant alleged that he was browsing the internet when he saw a video clip of the journalist criticizing the Pakistani Army. Mr Asif alleged that Imran Riaz accused the army of violating human rights and harming the state by indulging in politics.
The complainant alleged that Mr Khan further said that the army has put the integrity of Pakistan at stake, adding that the journalist had committed the crime by instigating army officers and other personnel.
The complainant noted that recently Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had awarded the King Abdulaziz Medal to Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa for his “significant contribution to defense cooperation” between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
Mr Asif alleged in the FIR that the journalist also mocked the Saudi government’s decision in his video, and General Bajwa went to Riyadh to seek Saudi financial help for the current government in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, an official said that the police handed over the journalist to the CIA Kotwali police for questioning. He is likely to be produced before the duty magistrate on Saturday (today).
Meanwhile, Mr Khan’s lawyer, Mian Ali Ashfaq, alleged that the police tried their best to shift his client to an undisclosed location, but his friends and brothers foiled the attempt. He said that the journalist has been implicated in more than 20 criminal cases registered against him in various police stations of Punjab.
Published in Dawn, July 9, 2022