KARACHI, June 3: Police took into custody a local journalist of an online news agency on Monday in connection with the investigation of the slain US reporter, Daniel Pearl. He was let off late at night.

Amir Latif, a staffer of the Online, was called by the Crime Investigation Department. He went to see DSP Farooq Awan at noon at the CID office in the old city area where he was questioned till late into the night.

“Amir is sitting right in front of me, and we are trying to seek some information from him in connection with the Daniel Pearl kidnapping and murder case,” Farooq Awan told Dawn.

However, the IG Sindh, Syed Kamal Shah, said: “It (Amir’s detention) is not in my knowledge.” He added that he would look into the matter whether or not Amir was in custody.

Sources close to Amir said he had been pressured to identify some suspects, whom he did not know. They said the video cassette showing the killing of Daniel Pearl was delivered at the office of the Online news agency in Karachi and none of the staff could identify those who had delivered the movie.

They claimed that Amir was also unable to identify them, but he was pressured to recognize those suspects, who were in police custody, and police implicated them in the Daniel Pearl kidnapping and murder case.

Amir, who was returned his mobile phone late at night, said he was told to call in Mr Marshall, the chief of the Online, who resided in Islamabad, at the CID office. Amir was told that he would not be let off until Mr Marshall appeared before the CID.

After officials of the provincial and federal governments intervened in the matter, he was allowed to go home late at night.

The CID told him to again come over to their office on Tuesday, Amir told this reporter.

Opinion

Editorial

Anti-smuggling drive
Updated 04 Oct, 2023

Anti-smuggling drive

Smuggling is eating into the economy, weakening it and imposing enormous costs on the manufacturing industry, jobs and public well-being.
Deadly trade
Updated 04 Oct, 2023

Deadly trade

Not only is the physical well-being of individuals at risk, the ethical fibre of our medical community is also threatened.
Caucasus conflict
04 Oct, 2023

Caucasus conflict

AFTER more than three decades of stalemate, the bloody conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh may be headed for a conclusion....
Relying on debt
Updated 03 Oct, 2023

Relying on debt

Sadly, the ruling military and civil elite haven’t grasped the seriousness of the economic crises.
Palestine abandoned
03 Oct, 2023

Palestine abandoned

IT appears to be only a matter of time before a normalisation deal is announced between Saudi Arabia and Israel....
Killjoys in Swat
03 Oct, 2023

Killjoys in Swat

IN yet another blow to women’s rights in Pakistan, a group of young, spirited girls seeking to participate in a...