'Missing' ex-army officer reaches London 'safely', says will break silence 'in time'
A retired army officer, Major (retd) Adil Raja, who had reportedly gone missing from Islamabad, has "safely" reached his family in the United Kingdom, he said in a tweet on Thursday.
"There is a lot to say, but everything will be spoken about in time," he said and warned: "After this, if my mother and loved ones are hurt even slightly, I won't hold back."
He also shared a copy of his complaint registered with the Punjab Police stating he was given "life threats". According to the copy, the complaint was registered on April 19.
The news about the alleged disappearance of Raja, who is the former spokesman of the Pakistan Ex-Serviceman Society (PESS), first surfaced on Twitter on Wednesday when a woman, Sabine Kayani, who said she was his wife, tweeted she was unable to establish contact with him and sought people's help to trace his whereabouts.
Social media has been abuzz over the "disappearance" of the former army man since then.
In one of her tweets yesterday, Kayani said some men claiming to be from the FIA raided the house of her mother-in-law while Raja was not there. "Her house is hardly 100 metres away from the Army house. Shortly after this we lost contact with my husband," she had said.
Her tweet also included a video that showed armed men standing on a staircase, purportedly outside an apartment.
On Thursday afternoon, Kayani confirmed she had established contact with her husband, saying he is "fine and free". She also thanked people for their support.
Raja is an active political commentator on Twitter and an ardent supporter of former premier Imran Khan. He had also criticised the ouster of Imran and his government and called for the re-election of the PTI chief as prime minister in one of his tweets from April 10.
"Let's bring back #ImranKhan with 2/3rd Majority InshAllah."
According to his profile on Twitter, he is a war veteran and currently a columnist with a local English daily.
Just days ago, he resigned as spokesperson of the PESS and stated in one of his tweets that he quit the position "voluntarily".
The ex-army officer has also been very critical of the new government – the Sharif family in particular – and has sporadically called them out for their alleged corruption.
The day Shehbaz Sharif had taken oath as the prime minister, Raja had tweeted: "Appointment of the new Crime Minister is an indication of our System Failure."
