ISLAMABAD: A local court on Wednesday handed over journalist Waheed Murad to the Federal Inv­es­ti­gation Agency (FIA) on a two-day physical remand.

The decision was made by Judicial Magistrate Abbas Shah following Murad’s arrest by FIA officials.

During the court proceedings, the FIA requested a 10-day physical remand to investigate Murad’s social media activities, specifically posts related to the Balochistan Liberation Army on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.

Murad told the court that law-enforcers forcibly entered his house and arrested him. His lawyers, Im­­aan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha, requested access to the FIR and argued that journalism was being trea­ted as a crime in the country.

Following the argum­ents, the court reserved its verdict and later granted FIA a two-day physical remand.

His family had earlier filed a petition before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for his recovery, saying that he was “forcibly disappeared by unknown” individuals from his house in the federal capital.

The FIR claimed Murad was “found sharing highly intimidating content” on social media platforms.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2025