Broadcast journalist taken away by men in plainclothes in Karachi: police

Karachi: Unidentified men in planclothes took a broadcast journalist away from near his residential property in Karachi on Monday, family and police said.

Nafees Naeem from Aaj TV, was picked up by men in plainclothes near his residence in Nazimabad area of Karachi. He works as an assignment editor for the TV channel.

Police immediately contacted Naeem's family after learning about the incident and later the station house officer (SHO) from the Nazimabad Police Station also visited the journalist's house.

Police had obtained CCTV footage of the incident, which showed plainclothed men aboard a Vigo [a four-wheel-drive truck] approaching the journalist and picking him up.

The police officer said he spoke to the wife of the journalist who said her husband had left home at around 3:50pm to get some groceries and hadn't returned since then. The DIG said the police had asked the family to lodge a first information report (FIR) if they wanted to.

Poliec said the journalist was not detained at any police station in his jurisdiction.

Furthermore, the TV channel's administration said in a statement that Naeem was taken away by men in plainclothes outside his home in Nazimabad. Condemning the "abduction", it said a legal course of action should be adopted if Naeem was wanted in any case, urging the prime minister and the Sindh chief minister to take notice of the incident and ensure the journalist's recovery.

“No institution can be given the right to take away any citizen without a charge, FIR or a complaint,” the statement said, adding that such an incident was "a matter of shame for the government".