KARACHI: Singer and anchor Fakhre Alam, who is currently on a mission to fly around the world in 28 days, was detained at Russian airport on Monday after he landed in the country with an expired visa.

The news was shared by noted TV actor Faysal Quraishi on Twitter.

Mr Alam told the actor that he had arrived in Russia two hours after the expiry of his visa, following which he was taken into custody by local authorities. He said that he was being held “in a room without food or water”, and that his phone was confiscated by the Russian authorities for six hours.

“Bro please tweet on my behalf. I am being detained at Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk airport because my visa expired 2 hours and date changed. They are forcing me to turn back to Japan. I cannot go to Japan because I had single entry visa. I appeal to Pak govt to request Russian govt to allow,” read the tweet posted by Mr Quraishi.

The celebrity appealed to the government to help him as he did not “want to give up Mission Parwaaz”.

“I need Pakistan’s support to carry on our flag to finish this,” Mr Alam said in his message. “I have been in a room without food or water. No Wi-Fi. They didn’t give me my phone for 6 hours,” he said.

In Islamabad, the Foreign Office took notice of Mr Alam’s detention and said “they were looking into the matter”.

FO spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal took to Twitter to share an update on the situation. “Our Ambassador in Moscow has spoken to Fakhre Alam. He is also in touch with local authorities. Problem will hopefully be resolved soon,” he wrote.

The Civil Aviation Authority tweeted that Mr Alam was fine and would continue [to fly] towards his destination from Russia.

“Fakhare Alam is alhamdulillah fine by the grace of Allah almighty. #MissionParwaaz will continue on from Russia towards it’s new destination with same enthusiasm and thrill,” it stated.

However, in an audio message posted by Mr Qureshi on his official Twitter account, Mr Alam said that he had not received his visa until 8.30pm [in Russia] and was still detained at the airport. “Nothing happened, I am tired so only good news is I am laying on the floor,” he said.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2018