An Islamabad district and sessions court on Tuesday granted the police two-day physical remand of Bol TV anchor and YouTuber Jameel Farooqui on grounds of further investigation and recovery of evidence.

The YouTuber was arrested from Karachi a day earlier for “falsely accusing” Islamabad police of physically and sexually assaulting PTI leader Shahbaz Gill.

Subsequently, a Karachi judge had given Islamabad police Farooqui’s custody after granting a three-day transitory remand to shift him to the capital. While being taken to the capital, the YouTuber claimed that he was tortured, stripped and kept at an undisclosed location for over 12 hours.

According to the court order, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, Farooqui’s two-day physical remand was granted “subject to pre and post-medical examination”.

“It is the first physical remand of the accused and the IO (investigation officer) has clearly mentioned that the mobile phone and other device through which the objectionable was uploaded is yet to be recovered and the offences are yet to be investigated which is a valid ground for granting the physical remand of the accused,” it said.

Subsequently, the court ordered the police to produce the YouTuber on August 25.

The hearing

Earlier today, Farooqui was presented before the court of Judicial Magistrate Mian Azhar Nadeem amid tight security while reporters were prevented from entering the courtroom.

During the hearing, police sought further physical remand of Farooqui.

His lawyer, on the other hand, contended that his client had talked about being tortured after his arrest. Police are only seeking his physical remand to torture him further, he said.

The lawyer also said that his client had only reiterated claims previously made by Gill himself. “He merely spoke about Gill’s claims in his own way in a programme on YouTube,” he said.

He questioned whether police were seeking to “recover” information or evidence and why they required physical remand of his client. He urged the court to discharge his client from the case.

Farooqui also took the stand and said that his car, wallet and other belongings were “snatched” at the time of his arrest. He went on to say that Sindh and Islamabad police both had tortured him.

The court reserved its verdict after hearing the arguments.

The FIR

The anchorperson’s allegations are a reiteration of the PTI’s claims of Gill being “sexually abused” and “tortured both mentally and physically” by investigators during the ongoing probe against him in a sedition case.

The first information report (FIR) against Farooqui, was registered on Sunday at the Ramna police station under Sections 499 (defamation), 500 (punishment for defamation), 501 (printing or engraving matter known to be defamatory), and 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

The complainant, a magistrate, said that he had seen a video circulating in different groups on his phone where Farooqui, in a vlog on his YouTube channel, shared graphic details of the Islamabad police’s alleged torture of the PTI leader.

The complaint said the journalist attempted to discredit the police with false allegations, which was tantamount to obstructing the investigation.

It added that the journalist tried to distract police, create anarchy and provoke the public against officials.

Farooqui accuses Islamabad police of torture

A video shared on PTI’s official Twitter on Monday night showed the visibly distressed journalist handcuffed, accompanied by an Islamabad police official, at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport.

In the clip, Farooqui alleged that he was stripped after which he was beaten up.

“On orders of the home ministry […] just because I am speaking the truth […] they tortured me, removed my clothes and beat me.

“The Islamabad police has obtained my transit remand at the moment to take me from Karachi to Islamabad,” the journalist said, adding that his family and channel were still unaware of his whereabouts.

He also claimed he was blindfolded and kept at an unknown location for 12 hours.