The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ordered “all the agencies” to cooperate in finding anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan — whose whereabouts remain unknown since his arrest at the Sialkot airport on May 11 — and produce him in the court by Tuesday (May 30).
Following yesterday’s hearing, during which Lahore police Deputy Inspector General (Investigation) Kamran Adil informed the high court that both the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Military Intelligence (MI) had stated that Khan was not in their custody, the LHC issued a written order outlining its directive.
It should be noted that Imran Riaz was among the individuals apprehended in the wake of protests that erupted in the country after the arrest of PTI Chairman Imran Khan.
In the order issued today, the court observed that a report was submitted to it on behalf of the interior ministry secretary that “stipulates denial of arrest/detention of the missing person by the proceedings on behalf of the Ministry of Defence”.
The order further stated that no one had attended court proceedings on behalf of the Ministry of Defence and “no report pertaining to steps taken by the agencies working under their control” sought by the court in an order dated May 22, 2023 was found among documents submitted to it by police.
“Therefore, all the agencies are directed to work together in terms of the order dated May 22, 2023, to effect the recovery of the missing person/detenue and produce him in the court on May 30, 2023,” the order read.