ISLAMABAD: The family of social worker and Civil Progressive Alliance Pakistan (CPAP) President Samar Abbas remained unaware of his whereabouts, even on Wednesday.

Mr Abbas came to Islamabad from Karachi for business, but went missing on Jan 7. His mobile phone has been switched off since then.

CPAP General Secretary Syed Talib Abbas told Dawn that the missing man’s family tried to register an FIR in Karachi, but police advised them to get it done in Islamabad.

“Now, it has been decided that an FIR will be lodged in the capital and one of members of his family will travel to the city for this purpose,” he said.

Qambar Ali, Samar’s brother-in-law, told Dawn that an application will be sent to SSP Islamabad on Thursday via courier, asking for the registration of an FIR.

“However, I will come to Islamabad afterwards to move the court for Samar’s recovery,” he said.

Mr Abbas, 40, is married with two children. He is a resident of Karachi’s Gulistan-e-Johar locality and participated in the Clean Karachi campaign alongside late Junaid Jamshed.

This is the second such case to surface in the capital after activist Salman Haider, who is also a lecturer at Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU), went missing on Jan 6.

Also on Wednesday, the UN special rapporteur on the right to freedom of expression, David Kaye, called on authorities to prioritise the location, protection and safe return of Waqas Goraya, Asim Saeed, Salman Haider and Ahmed Raza Naseer – four human rights and social media campaigners who went missing last week.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2017

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