Kidnapping?: Journalist found in Balochistan

Family and police en route to bring back Malik Munawar.


Express July 23, 2011

KARACHI:


Investigators claim to have found missing journalist, Malik Munawar 48 hours after his disappearance.


Jamshed Town SP Amir Farooqui told The Express Tribune that Munawar has been traced to Winder in Balochistan and that his family and the police have gone to recover him.

Munawar reportedly called his family on the phone and told him where he is and asked them to come get him. The SP said that it was too early to confirm whether he had been kidnapped and preferred to leave clarifications till the journalist’s return

Munawar is a political reporter for Channel 5 of the Khabrain News Network and was believed to have been kidnapped on July 21 at around 4:30.

His colleagues told The Express Tribune that Munawar left his office for lunch at around 4:15 pm and headed to a restaurant near his office in Karachi Administration Society. He was last seen at the restaurant at 4:30. An FIR No. 124/11 was registered with the Tipu Sultan police.

Inspector Ijaz Mughal, the case’s investigation officer told The Express Tribune that the FIR was lodged a day after he went missing. According to CPLC sources, his mobile phone was traced twice on Friday – at 5:40 pm and 7:10 pm – but was then turned off. The signal pointed to Federal B Area Block 12 in Karachi.

Malik’s wife said that the day before he disappeared, Malik had received death threats.

He told her people were threatening to kidnap and kill him but refused to tell her what was going on or why he was being threatened. On Saturday, his family, friends, and community staged a protest and demanded that the government take action. Journalists’ organisations such as the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ) also protested in front of the Karachi Press Club.



Published in The Express Tribune, July 24th, 2011.

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