ISLAMABAD: The capital police have constituted a team to investigate attack on journalist Asad Ali Toor.

The team will be headed by SP Saddar with DSPs Special Branch and Ramna Ciricle as well as Shalimar SHO its members.

According to the police, the team will work under the supervision of SSP investigation. It will use all scientific and forensic methods including CCTV footages and Safe City cameras to trace the culprits involved in the incident.

Earlier, the capital police registered a case over the manhandling of the journalist by three persons.

The case was registered at Shalimar police station under PPC 452 and 506ii in response to a complaint lodged by Asad Ali Toor.

According to the FIR, a man rang the doorbell of Mr Toor’s flat in F-11 at around 11pm on Tuesday. When Mr Toor opened the door the man who was wearing a mask pushed him inside and held him at gunpoint and told him that he was from a security agency.

In the meantime, two more masked men entered the flat, the FIR said, adding that later all three removed their masks.

They pushed him to the bedroom and one of them sat over him, the FIR said, adding that they asked him how much foreign funding he received.

In response, Mr Toor asked him to check his bank account and he only received his salary, it said, adding that later they tied him and asked him to chant slogans. The FIR said they also made a video of him.

One of them beat him with a plastic pipe. However, the man who was making the video intercepted him, it added.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) condemned the attack on journalist Asad Ali Toor.

In a joint statement, PFUJ President Shahzada Zulfiqar and Secretary General Nasir Zaidi said this was for the second time that the journalist had been beaten.

The PFUJ leadership said that this attempt was aimed at suppressing journalists.

“Such tactics will not deter media and journalists from upholding free press and freedom of speech and expression,” they said.

PFUJ demanded immediate arrest of culprits and initiation of investigation by a judge of the high court.

They also warned of countrywide protests if concrete steps were not taken for the arrest of those who attacked the journalist.

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2021