LAHORE: The capital city police remained clueless about the whereabouts of a Canadian national, who was allegedly kidnapped in Lahore four days ago.

Hamza Ahmad Khan, a Canadian citizen pursuing doctoral research, disappeared in the early hours of Feb 19 after leaving his residence in DHA Phase 10, according to the first information report (FIR) registered at the Defence-A police station.

The FIR was lodged on the complaint of his friend, Yousuf Rasheed, who stated that Ahmad arrived in Pakistan on Feb 13 to work on his PhD thesis and was staying with him in the DHA.

He said Ahmad booked a cab through a ride-hailing service and left the house between 1am and 2am on Feb 19 and since thin he has been missing.

Victim’s brother says the ride-hailing company concerned refused to share ride details with family

The complainant told police that friends attempted to trace Ahmad on their own, but were unsuccessful, apprehending that he might have been kidnapped. He sought legal action against those responsible for the alleged kidnapping.

Ahmad’s brother, Awais Ahmad Khan, told Dawn that their family had contacted the ride-hailing service to seek details about the ride, alleging that it was cancelled midway.

He says his brother dropped a girl at her house in Model Town in the cab and left for his residence, but did not reach there.

Awais say that they have the CCTV footage of the house where his brother dropped the girl. “The cab company did not share details with us, saying they would only provide information to law-enforcement agencies if contacted,” he says, adding that, to his knowledge, no one from the police approached the company.

He alleged that the police had not been cooperating with the family and that no officer had contacted them directly. “We have to seek assistance from the Canadian embassy to lodge the case,” he says, adding that the family is also considering filing a petition in court for Ahmad’s recovery.

Awais says he resides in the United States, while their family originally belongs to Karachi, where their parents currently live.

He says that he did not know why his brother was kidnapped and demanded his safe recovery.

Yousuf Rasheed told Dawn that he had provided all the details to the police, but they failed to recover his friend so far.

Senior Superintendent of Police (Investigation) Muhammad Naveed admitted that investigators had yet to determine Ahmad’s whereabouts. “We are still clueless about the whereabouts of the abducted person,” he said, adding that police obtained initial details from the complainant and the ride-hailing service, as part of the inquiry.

No arrests was made till the filing of this report.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2026