KARACHI: The whereabouts of a journalist associated with an English-language national daily are unknown after he was allegedly picked up by ‘plainclothes security personnel’ in the early hours of Sunday.
According to his family, Abdullah Zafar, a staff reporter at The Nation, was taken away in an overnight raid at their house in Lawyers Society, Scheme 33 of Karachi’s Sacchal area.
“Over a dozen personnel in plainclothes – most of them clad in shalwar kameez with faces covered – arrived at my home at late night,” said Zafarullah, the father of the missing journalist.
He said the men had arrived in three vehicles accompanied by two police vans and they had his younger brother with them too. He added that police and Rangers personnel were also accompanying the plainclothes personnel. “They first raided our old house in Shah Faisal Colony from where we have recently shifted and brought my brother along with them, and then raided my house,” said Zafarullah. “After entering our home, they went to my son’s room and after a two-minute talk with him, they took him away.” “They just told me that my son was involved in the forgery of a Rs50 million cheque,” Zafarullah said, “A Rs50 million cheque bounce case? That’s a joke to us.” When contacted, the law-enforcement agencies including police and Rangers denied their involvement in Abdullah’s disappearance. “I have checked and he is not with the police,” Sindh IGP Allah Dino Khawaja told Daily Times. Similarly, a senior Rangers official said the paramilitary force did not have a role in Abdullah’s detention. “We have checked. Our troops did not detain or arrest him,” he claimed.
Published in Daily Times, July 10th , 2017.
