Police on Sunday confirmed to have arrested Karachi University (KU) professor and syndicate member Dr Riaz Ahmed a day earlier over a case dating back to 2017, saying he was let go when it was proven that he was acquitted in the case.

Following his release from detention on Saturday, Dr Ahmed had alleged that he was “abducted” to prevent him from attending a syndicate meeting which was supposed to decide the degree issue of a sitting judge of Islamabad High Court.

He was released by the police after an outcry by teachers, students and rights activists who protested his eight-hour “detention” outside the Bahadurabad Police Station.

Police spokesperson Syed Umair Shah told Dawn.com today, “Social media has launched a campaign that Professor Dr Riaz, who teaches at the chemistry department of the University of Karachi, was detained by Bahadurabad police without any justification and who was released later on.”

Social media users claimed there were “some hidden and complex reasons” behind the arrest, the police added.

Information was sought from Bahadurabad police to verify this but Station House Officer (SHO) Mohammed Naeem Rajput clarified that it was a “routine matter”, the statement reads.

The SHO said he received information that an “absconder” named Riaz, wanted by Artillery Maidan Police Station in an FIR 35/2017, was present in the jurisdiction of Bahadurabad police.

Therefore, police took Dr Ahmed into custody, where he clarified that he was a professor at KU and that he had been acquitted in the case against him, the police statement added.

“There were no hidden aspects behind this matter.”

Dr Ahmed, meanwhile, disputed the police statement and reiterated in a statement that he was abducted to prevent him from attending KU’s syndicate meeting, which discussed the degree issue of a sitting IHC judge.

He urged Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to take notice, claiming that an “injustice” was being carried out against a sitting IHC judge.

He raised objections regarding the formation of the inquiry body and alleged that it was pursuing a one-sided inquiry/

The professor said that the meeting approved “an Unfair Means Committee report not commissioned by the syndicate”, deeming it “against the [Karachi] University Rules”.