LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has claimed that its central leader Usman Dar was “abducted” in Karachi by “unknown persons” and taken to an undisclosed location.

According to PTI Secretary General Omar Ayub Khan, Mr Dar was “picked up” from Malir Cantt at 4:30pm on Saturday.

In a post on social media platform X, Mr Khan said police were claiming he was not in their custody.

He said the “abduction of PTI leaders” has become a “standard operating procedure” and they are released only after they issue a statement disassociating themselves from the party.

Meanwhile, Karachi’s Malir district police have denied any involvement in the alleged arrest.

Malir Senior Superintendent of Police Tariq Illahi Mastoi told Dawn.com that the PTI leader was not arrested by the police.

Meanwhile, a PTI spokesman said this was the worst-ever lawlessness by the state machinery.

The party leaders are continuously being abducted and forcefully disappeared, the spokesperson said, adding before Mr Dar, Senator Aon Abbas Bappi and Sad­aqat Ali Abbasi were abducted.

The “abducted” party leaders were being tortured physically and mentally to force them to part ways with the PTI, the spokesman added.

The spokesman also demanded the judiciary to “rise from slumber” to check the elements “unleashing torture on PTI leaders and workers”.

Meanwhile, Mr Dar’s mother also released a video message claiming her son had been abducted and that the ‘abductors’ were denying the whereabouts of her son.

She demanded that her son should be produced before the courts so that he could defend allegations levelled against him. “My appeal should be heard and honoured,” she stated.

PTI’s Karachi president accused the caretaker provincial government of being responsible, saying that it “continues the fascist trend set by the PPP government,” Dawn.com reported.

Another PTI leader, Farrukh Habib, demanded that the allegedly detained leader be brought to light immediately and presented in court if there was a case against him.

In August, Mr Dar had claimed his house, factory and businesses in Sialkot were sealed and his family members, including women, were left stranded.

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2023