LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has provided an extension to the government to locate and recover prominent anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan, who has been critical of the powerful military establishment, by July 25.
A bench of the high court was presiding over a petition filed to secure the safe return of Khan, who has remained missing since his contentious arrest apparently by a group of police officers in Sialkot on May 11.
The 47-year-old commentator, with more than three million followers on YouTube, has not been seen publicly since and neither his family nor police appear to know where he is.
During a court hearing on Wednesday, a representative from the Ministry of Defence appeared and assured the court that active efforts are underway to trace and recover the journalist.
“The ministry is exerting all possible efforts to ensure the early recovery of Imran Riaz,” said the ministry official.
It was revealed to the media by the District Police Officer (DPO) of Sialkot that an abduction First Information Report (FIR) had been lodged at the Civil Line police station based on a complaint filed by the journalist’s father.
The complaint included abduction charges against unknown individuals.
