LAHORE: The Punjab police chief has told the La­­hore High Court (LHC) that phone numbers which had been traced back to Afghanistan were involved in the case of anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan, whose whereabouts remain unknown since his arrest on May 11.

Inspector General Dr Usman Anwar appeared before the court on Tuesday as the deadline issued by the court during the last hearing to produce the anchorperson expired.

Representatives from the ministries of interior and defence also appeared before LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti, who was hearing the habeas corpus petition filed by Mr Khan’s father.

The petitioner was represented by Advocate Mian Ali Ashfaq. At the onset of the hearing, the chief justice asked IGP Anwar why the anchorperson was still missing.

The IGP replied that geo-fencing was conducted to trace the missing anchorperson but it did not yield results.

“Certain foreign [phone] numbers were used in this case. The numbers used were traced back to Afghanistan. We do not have the ability to trace Afghan [phone] numbers,” he said. He added that the help of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had been sought to trace the Afghanistan-based numbers.

The IGP sought permission to submit the details relating to the foreign numbers in the judge’s chamber.

The justice also clarified his previous order saying the court had not stated that the anchorperson was in the custody of intelligence agencies. The court had just asked the police to seek help from the agencies, he added.

The defence ministry’s representative told the court that they have no clue where Mr Khan was.

The petitioner’s counsel argued that other people were usually found within two days but the police were unable to recover Mr Khan.

The chief justice observed that it was easy to trace people within the country.

The counsel said it appeared that the IGP has successfully convinced the court of Mr Khan’s presence in Afghanistan.

The LHC CJ allowed IGP Anwar to present the “sensitive record” in his chambers and adjourned the hearing. He said a written order of the hearing would be released later.

Mr Khan has been missing since he was picked up following violent protests across the country in the wake of PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9.

The police admitted to having arrested the anchorperson from Sialkot airport and shifted him to prison. They added that he was released after the government withdrew his detention orders and since then, his whereabouts were unknown.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2023