Pakistani journalist, vocal critic of establishment, arrested in corruption case

Lahore: A Pakistani journalist, who has been a vocal critic of the powerful army's role in politics, was arrested here on Friday in an alleged corruption case, months after he was released for being part of the unprecedented attacks on military facilities last year.

Popular TV anchor and YouTuber Imran Riaz Khan, remanded to a 14-day judicial custody, claimed he was arrested in a false case. He is a supporter of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan.

Khan and his father have been accused of “securing a contract pertaining to Dharabi Lake in Chakwal at an inflated price,” according to the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE), Punjab.

Earlier in the morning, a heavy contingent of policemen raided Khan's house here and arrested him in connection with the case registered by the ACE, Punjab.

Talking to reporters, the anchorperson said, he had been arrested in a false case and blamed the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for his condition.

“Handcuffs are slapped on my wrists to pay salute to queen Maryam Nawaz, who is going to become Punjab chief minister. The queen is being made CM after stealing the people’s votes,” he said.

“Pakistan will not stay like this forever. Most of my journalist friends tell me to leave the country but I tell them that I will stay in Pakistan as long as l am alive,' he said.

In May 2023, Khan was picked up allegedly by the security agencies two days after the attacks on military installations by the workers of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. The authorities released him in September 2023.

Former prime minister Imran Khan had then expressed fear for his life for being a staunch critic of the army and his (Khan’s) supporter.

Meanwhile, visuals of his arrest went viral on social media.

Calling for his immediate release, the PTI party condemned Imran Riaz Khan's arrest. It said he had already “suffered enforced disappearance” and “custodial torture” for many months “at the hands of the illegitimate, authoritarian, fascist regime.”

“Imran Riaz Khan is one of the journalists, who has been consistently vocal against the regime’s atrocities and unlawful, unconstitutional activities. He was using his voice against the unprecedented, brazen electoral fraud, which stole the two-thirds majority mandate of Imran Khan’s PTI,” the PTI party wrote in a post on X.