ISLAMABAD: Brother of senior journalist and anchorperson Mateen Haider went missing on Wednesday, with the family expressing fears that he had been abducted.

Talking to Dawn, Mateen Haider said his brother, Prof Arfeen Haider, who taught history and Pak Studies at OPF College, was taken away by a group of men from a metro station on The Mall in Rawalpindi on Wednesday morning.

One of Mr Haider’s cousins told him about the incident after he himself was informed by a man who had recognised Arfeen Haider and witnessed the alleged kidnapping.

Mr Haider said that on Feb 14, a raid was carried out on his brother’s house in Dhoke Syedan, however, he was not present there at that time.

Later, he inquired from the police and other law enforcement departments about the raid on his brother’s house but no one told him the reason except that they wanted to interrogate him, he claimed.

After the abduction, the police and other relevant departments were approached but they denied knowing about the incident, he said.

When the CTD was approached, it neither denied nor confirmed that Arfeen Haider was in their custody, he said, adding that a journalist confirmed to him that those who had taken away his brother were suspicious about his travel history.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2024