Shakir Mehmood Awan, the journalist, is believed to have been picked up by law enforcement personnel from his home earlier this week. He was released on Sunday morning and returned home.
Awan’s mother, on the other hand, had approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) for his recovery and immediate production. Friday’s 9:00 am hearing was set for the petition by Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh.
The LHC on Friday summoned the inspector general of police (IGP) on a petition for the recovery of the “abducted” journalist and YouTuber but Punjab Additional IG Shahzada Sultan appeared in his stead.
Justice Sheikh also directed the Punjab Safe City Authority to present the CCTV footage of the journalist’s abduction from his residence. With these comments, the lawyer of Awan Muhammad Azhar Siddique said that by lodging an FIR, police have “relieved themselves of their burden”. Instead, the public prosecutor remarked that they would make all efforts to comply with the court orders.
Justice Sheikh ordered that Awan be presented in court on Monday and IG Punjab was summoned once again.
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Before returning, Awan told Dawn.com that people in police uniforms and plain clothes came to his house late on Thursday night and conducted a thorough search of the house.
“When more than 20 unidentified people abducted me from my house,” he said. “I told them that I am on bail in an FIA case and that warrants against me should be shown, if any, but they did not have anything.”
“My mobile phone and other valuables were confiscated from me and I was forcibly taken away with a black cloth over my head and handcuffed,” he added.
“For three days, I was kept at an unknown place. I was released at 2:00am in Cavalry Ground, Lahore.”
On Thursday, the PTI asserted that journalist Awan had been taken in abduction calling the government to end the “abhorrent practice of abducting individuals who dare to dissent against their propaganda.”
In addition, on the same day, veteran journalist Hamid Mir said in a post on X that Awan had been “missing since last many hours”.
