LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday sought a report from the federal ministry of interior about the whereabouts of Saad Rizvi and Ans Rizvi, the leaders of proscribed Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), after 30 station house officers (SHOs) of Punjab police denied having arrested them.

Justice Muhammad Jawad Zafar was hearing a petition filed by Sarwat Fatima, a leader of the banned party, challenging the alleged detention of the Rizvi brothers and seeking their recovery.

Advocate Burhan Moazam Malik appeared on behalf of the petitioner while Assistant Advocate General Farrukh Khan Lodhi submitted reports on behalf of the SHOs of those 30 police stations where 54 cases had been registered against the TLP leadership.

All the SHOs denied having arrested the Rizvi brothers. However, they disclosed that Saad and Ans had been declared proclaimed offenders by the relevant antiterrorism courts in four and five FIRs respectively.

Justice Zafar directed the interior ministry to submit its reply to the petition by Oct 27. The brothers went ‘missing’ following a police operation against TLP protesters near Muridke on Oct 13, 2025.

The police claimed that the brothers had fled to Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), denying that they were in the custody of security agencies. Conversely, TLP alleged that they were being held by the agencies.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2026