IGP Punjab has been given until Monday by the LHC to produce Riaz Imran
Justice Bhatti urges the parties to reach a “logical end” to the case and requests a detailed response from the IGP.
The Punjab IGP, Dr. Usman Anwar, was given an ultimatum by the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Saturday to produce the missing anchorperson, Imran Riaz Khan, by Monday.
It was at this point that LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti deemed the proceeding to have reached its “logical end” after hearing the arguments on both sides.
The IGP and the Sialkot jail superintendent seemed to blame each other for the lack of protection outside the jail during the sessions. CJ Bhatti pointed out that there was no security outside the jail when the news anchor emerged when the court ordered the clip to be played.
The superintendent of the Sialkot prison insisted that his staff was accountable only for the facility’s inside, while the exterior was the responsibility of the Punjab police. When IGP Anwar was questioned, however, he demanded to know if the jail administration had written to the Punjab police requesting security. The IGP made the case that police officers are typically sent to prisons at the request of wardens.
The IGP informed the court of the police’s recent actions and future plans in response to a question concerning the department’s development. The IGP made similar arguments as he had the day before, May 19, during proceedings.
The IGP argued that the police had initiated the geo-fencing process, collected data from telecom companies, gathered CCTV footage, contacted NADRA for the identification process, and gotten other agencies on board, including the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and Intelligence Bureau (IB). This was all on May 19. He told the judge that the police would do everything in their power to find the anchor.
Advocate Azhar Siddique, representing Imran Riaz Khan, stated in court that he had information pertaining to the initial police raid on the anchorperson’s home. When told by police that no FIR had been filed against Riaz, he questioned the IGP on the rationale of the raid.
Attorney Azhar Siddique informed the judge that the cops had been dishonest in all their dealings.
Finally, CJ Bhatti ordered IG Punjab to provide a detailed response and produce Imran Riaz by Monday.
IGP Anwar had earlier failed to convince the LHC CJ with his responses to many inquiries on the “missing” anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan.
The IGP seemed befuddled by the chief justice’s questions at times.
The IGP for Punjab was questioned several times in court about why the police system couldn’t find the anchorperson. In response, he denied that the news anchor had been abducted. Instead, he hypothesized that the anchorperson may have intentionally buried himself to elude capture by law enforcement.
