ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday met the family of journalist Mudassar Naaru who went missing in 2018 and instructed officials to prepare a detailed report on the disappearance.
The interaction took place after the Islamabad High Court asked the country's human rights minister Shireen Mazari to arrange it.
Naaru went missing while in the northern areas for vacation with his wife and infant son more than three years ago. In May this year his wife, who had been lobbying for him to be found, passed away in her sleep.
"PM met with Mudassar Naaru's parents & son this afternoon," Mazari wrote in a Twitter post. "Parents gave details of what they had been going thru. PM reassured them & immed issued orders for complete report on Naaru's whereabouts & on exactly what happened. Family expressed their confidence in PM's commitment."
The Islamabad High Court observed while hearing Naaru's case recently called the problem of enforced disappearances a "crime against humanity," adding that the buck stopped with the prime minister and his cabinet in such cases.
Meanwhile, the family of Naaru also issued a statement after meeting the PM, saying he "acknowledged his lack of awareness" about the incident of the journalist's disappearance.
"He was unable to provide any conclusive information to the family given the fact that he was unaware of Mudassar Naaru's case prior to the meeting," the statement said.
However, after his conversation with the family, the prime minister assured them his office would get back to them with details of the missing journalist's fate "within the next 2-3 days."
