Suspect in judge video scandal missing, police register FIR

Published October 3, 2019
A screengrab from a video shared by PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz shows judge Arshad Malik (R) in conversation with PML-N supporter Nasir Butt (L). — DawnNewsTV/File
A screengrab from a video shared by PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz shows judge Arshad Malik (R) in conversation with PML-N supporter Nasir Butt (L). — DawnNewsTV/File

A case was registered on Wednesday after a suspect in the investigation into a video leak scandal involving former accountability court judge Arshad Malik went missing along with his family.

According to the FIR registered at the Lohi Bher police station in Islamabad on the complaint of Khurram Yousuf's brother-in-law under Section 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine a person) of the Pakistan Penal Code, Yousuf, along with his wife and three children, were missing for a week. He said that their house was locked and phones had been powered off.

The complainant alleged that Nasir Janjua, another suspect in the video scandal, was responsible for this, adding that his brother-in-law had been very worried about the case and had been in touch with Janjua. He called for their recovery.

On September 7, a judicial magistrate had set free three suspects including Janjua, Yousuf and Mahar Ghulam Jilani from the Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) custody after a report from the agency showed that no evidence was found against them in connection with an investigation into the video leak scandal.

Earlier in the same week, the three men had been picked up in connection with judge Malik's FIR against them for allegedly pressurising and blackmailing him.

Following their release, a cybercrimes court had ruled that the order for their discharge from the case "does not amount to acquittal".

Judge video controversy

Judge Malik — who had in December last year sentenced Nawaz Sharif to seven years in jail in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption reference and acquitted him in the Flagship Investment case — has been at the centre of controversy since July 6, when PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz alleged that he had been "blackmailed" into giving the verdict against Sharif.

According to judge Malik's affidavit — presented to the Islamabad High Court chief justice as a rebuttal to Maryam's press conference — an old acquaintance of his, Tariq Mahmood, had been the one to show him a "secretly recorded manipulated immoral video [showing him] in a compromising position" that was shot while the judge was serving in Multan.

The judge claimed that this video was later used by Sharif's long-time supporter Nasir Butt to blackmail him.

Opinion

Enter the deputy PM

Enter the deputy PM

Clearly, something has changed since for this step to have been taken and there are shifts in the balance of power within.

Editorial

All this talk
Updated 30 Apr, 2024

All this talk

The other parties are equally legitimate stakeholders in the country’s political future, and it must give them due consideration.
Monetary policy
30 Apr, 2024

Monetary policy

ALIGNING its decision with the trend in developed economies, the State Bank has acted wisely by holding its key...
Meaningless appointment
30 Apr, 2024

Meaningless appointment

THE PML-N’s policy of ‘family first’ has once again triggered criticism. The party’s latest move in this...
Weathering the storm
Updated 29 Apr, 2024

Weathering the storm

Let 2024 be the year when we all proactively ensure that our communities are safeguarded and that the future is secure against the inevitable next storm.
Afghan repatriation
29 Apr, 2024

Afghan repatriation

COMPARED to the roughshod manner in which the caretaker set-up dealt with the issue, the elected government seems a...
Trying harder
29 Apr, 2024

Trying harder

IT is a relief that Pakistan managed to salvage some pride. Pakistan had taken the lead, then fell behind before...