ISLAMABAD, Nov 28(The Dawn): Senior journalist Matiullah Jan was booked on terrorism and narcotics charges on Thursday, amid concerns raised by rights bodies over his reported arrest from Islamabad the previous night.
Jan’s son claimed that his father was “abducted” by “unknown individuals” from Islamabad, leading to the revelation that the journalist was booked in a first information report (FIR) early Thursday morning.
Journalist Asad Toor confirmed to that he met with Jan in the morning, but the journalist was subsequently taken elsewhere. “He was fine,” Toor said about Jan’s condition. Toor added that Jan was taken from the Margalla police station, and his whereabouts are currently unknown.
Toor insisted on seeing the FIR related to Jan’s arrest. Initially, a policeman showed him an FIR pertaining to the PTI protest, which did not name Jan. However, it later emerged that Jan had been booked in a terrorism case, which also included charges of possessing narcotics.
The FIR, filed by the Margalla police on the complaint of Superintendent of Police Asif Ali, claimed that Jan was found possessing 246 grams of narcotic methamphetamine (crystal meth) when his vehicle was stopped at E-9 in the federal capital. The case was registered at 3:20 am, nearly an hour after the alleged incident took place.
The FIR invoked sections of the Control of Narcotic Substances Act (CNSA) 1997, the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997, and various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code. According to the complainant, Jan’s vehicle was rapidly moving towards Islamabad’s F-10 when it was signalled to stop at a checkpost. The FIR alleged that Jan “rammed the vehicle with the intention to hit the workers, injuring Constable Mudassir,” and later assaulted the constable and snatched his SMG rifle.
Earlier, senior anchor and Dawn columnist Arifa Noor said on social media platform X that she spoke with Toor, who mentioned that Jan had been booked in a case against top PTI leadership and others for their November 24 rally.
Rights bodies and the journalism fraternity voiced their concerns over Jan’s arrest, following his son’s allegation that the anchor was abducted. A post on Jan’s X account, seemingly made by his son, read: “Matiullah Jan has been abducted from the parking of Pims tonight at around 11 pm by unmarked abductors in an unmarked vehicle.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) expressed grave alarm over “reports of the abduction” of Jan, noting it followed “his coverage of protests by supporters of imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan.” The CPJ called for a swift and impartial investigation into the incident and accountability for all perpetrators.
