LAHORE – The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday sought reply from District Police Officer, Sialkot, on a plea against alleged kidnapping of Sambrial Press Club Chairman Rana Shahid Mahmood.
Justice Ali Baqir Najfi of the LHC passed the order on the plea moved by Rana Fraz, the son of the journalist who went missing from Sambrial.
Previously, the court had directed the police to produce Rana Shahid Mahmood before the court and had adjourned further hearing till August 6, 2024.
During today’s hearing, the police told the court that they could not trace Rana Shahid Mahmood so far. They said that they were conducting geo-fencing. The forensic report on the CCTV footage is awaited, they said.
Rana Fraz Shahid, the petitioner, said that his father reported against drug dealers before his kidnapping.
He asked the court for recovery of father.
Justice Najfi sought reply from the DPO and adjourned the hearing.
Rana Shahid Mahmood was kidnapped midnight on July 1, 2024 from a local café in Sambrial.
The petitioner said that some unknown people picked up his father from a local café. He said his father is a professional journalist and a social worker. The unknown men, he said, shifted him to some unknown location after kidnapping him from there.
He asked the court to direct the police to recover his father.
“My father Rana Shahid Mahmood went missing a month ago but the police failed to trace him,” said Fraz Shahid.
Surprisingly, he said, his father was kidnapped in presence of local police as per the CCTV footage that surfaced at the later stage. The individuals wearing police uniforms were also present there, he added.
He said that they had been running from pillar to post for his safe recovery but could not find any clue so far.
Tahir Sarwar, the nephew of the kidnapped journalist, had lodged the FIR 1426/24 with Sambrial police station under Section 365 of Pakistan Penal Code 1860.
He told the police that his uncle, who is a known journalist in the local area and the chairman of Sambrial Press Club, was picked up by 20 to 25 unknown people who were wearing the masks at the time of the kidnapping.
The unknown persons reached there on five five pickup trucks [vigo dalas], Kia Sportage and a Honda Civic car. The complainant said that they picked the journalist at gun-point and took him away to some unknown location. The kidnappers, he said, also took away the CDR of the CCTV installed there at the café.
