ISLAMABAD, Sept 18: A DawnNews TV reporter, who had covered the recent suicide attack on SSG commandos in Tarbela, was kidnapped from outside his residence in Rawalpindi on Saturday and released on Tuesday after a thorough interrogation by the personnel of an intelligence agency.

Two plainclothes men bundled Babur Hussain into a jeep blindfolded and after about a four-hour journey put him in a guarded room.

Mr Hussain was interrogated and, in what appears to be intimidation, was made to draw the sketches of the graves of his parents in his ancestral town. He was released near Mianwali after telling him that he had been “cleared”. He was asked to keep quiet.

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists has condemned the kidnapping and illegal confinement of Mr Hussain. In a statement, it demanded that strict action be taken against the culprits.The Rawalpindi-Islamabad Union of Journalists also condemned the incident and termed it an act of the government to harass journalists. It demanded strict action against those responsible for the kidnapping of Mr Hussain and announced to hold a protest demonstration outside the Press Club Camp Office in Islamabad on Wednesday.

In a statement, DawnNews condemned the “abduction, illegal confinement and intimidation of Babur Hussain by unknown persons who appeared to be sleuths of an intelligence agency.“DawnNews TV condemns the harassment of its staff and asks the government to launch an inquiry into the incident to bring the culprits to the book.”