The Intelligence Bureau (IB) on Tuesday suspended its five officials “for mistreatment of ARY News team”, according to Dawn.
The suspended officers are Syed Mohiuddin Rizwan (Director, BPS-19), Mehmoob Ali (stenotypist), Inam Ali (stenotypist), Rajab Ali (sub-inspector) and Khawar.
Earlier in the day, journalist Syed Iqrarul Hassan accused some officials of the IB of detaining him and members of his team for hours at their Karachi office and subjecting them to extreme forms of torture after he attempted to expose alleged corruption within their ranks.
Hassan’s ordeal came to light when pictures of him bloodied up, in torn-up clothes and receiving medical treatment on a hospital bed emerged on Twitter. Later, his fellow TV journalist Waseem Badami shared a video of him visiting Hassan at the hospital, by which time the injured journalist had been bandaged up, while his left arm was bound in a sling.
Speaking to ARY News, Hassan said that he and his team members were “stripped naked, blindfolded and tortured for exposing the corruption of an IB inspector”. He alleged that IB officials also shot videos of him after stripping him and his team members naked.
Hassan explained that an officer of IB was taking bribe at the gate of the agency’s office and “we tried to report him to the high-ups, but senior IB officer Rizwan Shah manhandled the Sar-e-Aam team and kept beating us.”
“We were treated as a mole working for a foreign country,” he added.
He said a few members of his team were even given electric shocks to “sensitive” body parts. “I want to bring [to light] the video we shot at the IB office, but I learnt that it has been discarded by the agency officials”.
Hassan is known for his TV show Sar-e-Aam in which he often conducts sting operations in order to expose corruption and other societal flaws.
CM Buzdar condemns incident:
Later in the day, Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar condemned the incident of torture.
He termed the incident deplorable act and extended heartfelt sympathy to the injured and prayed for their early recovery.
Senior journalist Hamid Mir and PTI MNA Aamir Liaquat Hussain also condemned the incident.
