Missing activist Salman Haider returns home

Police say activist is currently with his family

ISLAMABAD: Varsity professor and activist Salman Haider, who went missing from Islamabad earlier this month, reportedly returned home on Friday night.

A police officer said that Salman Haider returned home last night on his own. "Haider was not recovered by police; when we inquired the family confirmed that he had reached home,” he said.

"Haider's brother told us that he will meet police tomorrow [Sunday] and will record his statement if any,” the officer added.

A professor of Fatima Jinnah University, Haider, went missing on January 6, following which a report was registered at the Lohi Bher police station by his wife. Police found the professor’s car from Koral Chowk but did not receive any information about him.



Social media activists Waqas Goraya and Asim Saeed disappeared from Lahore on January 4, Ahmed Raza Naseer went missing from Sheikhupura on January 7 while Salman Haider vanished from Islamabad on January 6.

Interior minister Chaudhry Nisar had directed police and the authorities concerned to expedite efforts for Haider’s recovery and utilise all available resources in this regard.

Last week investigations revealed that a Toyota Surf vehicle, which is thought to have been following the activist before he went missing, had a fake number plate, police officials said.



According to them, the vehicle which may have been used by Haider’s abductors was last seen heading towards Rawalpindi from Koral Chowk. “Due to ongoing construction work on the Koral Chowk flyover, only one Safe City camera was able to capture footage of the suspected vehicle as it headed for Rawalpindi,” a police official said.

Police investigators also claimed they were analysing Haider’s cellphone record. “His mobile phone record showed his last location at Kak Pul on Islamabad Expressway,” an official said.

Meanwhile, whereabouts of Samar Abbas, another social activist who went missing from the capital, remain unknown. Abbas, a resident of Karachi, reportedly disappeared during a business trip to Islamabad earlier this month.

According to Abbas's family, he was in contact with them until January 7. "His last message was received on January 7 by his brother-in-law when he told him he was in Sector G-11, Islamabad," read the application submitted to police. Ramna police registered a kidnapping case over Abbas's disappearance on January 15.