KARACHI: A local news anchor was arrested in the southern port city of Karachi for “falsely” accusing the capital police of “physically and sexually” assaulting Dr. Shahbaz Gill on his YouTube channel, the law enforcement agency said in a social media post before deleting it on Monday.
Gill, former prime minister Imran Khan’s chief of staff, was arrested in the federal capital earlier this month after asking army officers not to follow the orders of their top command if they were “against the sentiments of the masses” during a talk show on a private news channel.
His statement was viewed as “seditious” by the national media regulator which issued a show-cause notice to the channel before suspending its broadcast.
Khan and his senior party leaders have said during the last couple of days that Gill was brutally tortured by the police, though the government has denied the claim.
According to the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Police, local television anchor Jameel Farooqui made the same allegation in his vlog before he was arrested in the southern port city.
“YouTuber Jameel Farooqui [has been] arrested in Karachi,” the ICT police said on Twitter before deleting the post.
The police added Farooqui had “falsely accused” officials of “physically and sexually” torturing the former prime minister’s aide.
The police had previously warned of action against those “making inflammatory, fabricated and false allegations.”
A spokesperson of the Karachi police confirmed Farooqui had been arrested, adding he would soon be moved to the federal capital.
In a statement issued on Monday, the Karachi Union of Journalists condemned the “disappearance” of the news anchor after his “arrest.”
“[Farooqui] was arrested while he was going to Bol News from his residence in Gulshan-e-Iqbal to participate in a program,” the statement said.
“The vlog by Jameel Farooqui is objectionable and in contradiction to journalistic and moral traditions,” it added. “However, the way he has been made to disappear is not only against the basic human rights but also in violation to the basic right of defense of an accused.”
Reacting to the development, senior leader of Khan’s political party, Shireen Mazari, condemned the arrest while accusing the government of being “on the rampage against journalists.”
Previously, Ammad Yousaf, the news director of ARY channel which aired Gill’s comment, was also arrested from his residence in Karachi before being released on the directives of a local court.
