Journalist and Awaam Raaj Tehreek founder Iqrar ul Hassan has been taken from his home in Lahore by unidentified men around 3 am on Monday, his wife Farah Iqrar has claimed. However, it remains unclear which case his arrest took place in connection with.
In a video shared online, Farah said that she was asleep when the doorbell began ringing repeatedly. When she went to check, she saw several people in the courtyard and outside the house.
She added that the men had covered their faces and were shouting, “Bring Iqrar outside.”
Farah added that the group later broke down the ground-floor door, entered the house and came upstairs. Women were also part of the group, she added and she noticed the letters “NCCIA” written on their arms.
According to Farah, the men took Iqrar away after he woke up and came outside. They also took mobile phones, a laptop, a digital video recorder and CCTV footage from the house.
Speaking to a news media outlet, Farah said that she went to the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) office to find out where her husband was being held. However, staff told her that the relevant officials were unavailable and asked her to return after the office opened at 10am.
The family then tried to lodge an FIR [First Information Report] at Lahore’s Defence police station but the police refused to accept their application, she said.
Farah added that when she insisted on registering a case, police told her they could not proceed because the internet was not working. They also said the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) office had shut down the internet service, she added.
After repeated requests, the police gave her a receipt carrying a written note that read, “The application cannot be tagged in the system due to the internet shutdown.”
Farah said that the family still did not know where Iqrar was or which authorities had taken him. She added that they could not determine whether the incident involved an arrest or an abduction because the individuals wore plain clothes and masks.
She added that the family repeatedly asked the men to identify their department and show arrest warrants but they provided no details.
Meanwhile, Iqrar-ul-Hassan’s lawyer Mian Ashfaq Ali told the media outlet that it remained unclear which case the journalist had been taken into custody in connection with.
He added that an application over Iqrar’s alleged abduction had been submitted but the authorities refused to receive it.
