ISLAMABAD: A 25-year-old journalist — Zeshan Ali, who works for the Iranian news agency IRNA — was injured after being tortured by two armed men here on Thursday.

Muhammad Raza Monafi, IRNA’s bureau chief in Islamabad, told Dawn that Mr Ali after covering usual events of Ramazan in Sector G-9 was returning to the agency’s office in Sector G-6 when two men riding a motorcycle intercepted his bike and beat him up.

“The two men, who were in civil dresses, were armed with a pistol and a knife and there was no number plate on their motorbike. They snatched two cameras and other belongings of Mr Ali and also tortured him,” he said.

Mr Monafi said that Mr Ali was taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences where medical treatment was provided to him. After being kept under observation for about three hours, he was discharged from the hospital.

He said the incident took place at around 1pm. “I cannot understand the reason behind the incident because Mr Ali, a Pakistani, is not involved in any illegal activity and he was doing normal coverage of Ramazan activities,” he said.

“I will visit the police station on Friday [today] to find out if there is any progress in the investigation of the case,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2017