A faculty member of the University of Karachi (KU) who had gone missing and was believed to be in custody of law enforcement agencies returned home on Wednesday, his family and KU officials told Dawn.

Dr Ismaeel Aarfi, an assistant professor in the university's faculty of Islamic Studies, had been whisked away from Gulshan-e-Maymar in the early hours of September 15.

Sources in KU told Dawn that, during his detention, the teacher was asked for information regarding "certain persons" and was shown some pictures of people he did not know.

Meanwhile, Karachi University Teachers Society (KUTS) President Dr Shakeel Farooqi in a statement on Wednesday announced that the teachers of KU and Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA) would observe a ‘black day’ on Friday across the country against the detention of the teacher.

The KUTS chief alleged that Dr Ismaeel was taken away by personnel of a paramilitary force.

“It is so heart-breaking and disappointing that a respected and noble university professor is whisked away by Rangers from his home and set free [a] couple of weeks later,” KUTS's press statement read.

“Something is wrong here and that has to be straightened out.”

KUTS is also consulting lawyers and lawmakers to move a court of law for appropriate legal action against such incidents, the statement read.

“Teachers condemn the arrest of Dr Ismaeel Aarfi and vowed to react strongly to any such incident if [it] occurs in [the] future,” according to the statement jointly issued by KUTS and FAPUASA.