YouTuber and former anchor Imran Riaz Khan was detained at Lahore's Jinnah International Airport early Wednesday morning as he prepared to board a flight to Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj, his lawyer Azhar Siddique said.
Imran Riaz's lawyer, Azhar Siddique Advocate, stated that Imran Riaz was apprehended by unidentified people escorted by police officers. A brawl also occurred at the airport, he said.
The lawyer stated that Imran Riaz has been granted bail in all of the cases filed against him.
Subsequently, Azhar Siddique filed a petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC) seeking details of the first information report (FIR) under which Imran Riaz was arrested.
According to the petition, Imran Riaz was about to travel to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj pilgrimage from Lahore when "many civil-dressed officers from various authorities came and arrested him without providing any details" and "took him to an undisclosed location."
The petition further states that "no information has surfaced as to which FIR was used in order to apprehend the applicant on the eve of June 11, 2024; therefore, it is the need of the day that the respondents be summoned by this court and they inform this court as to which FIRs have now been registered, of course, frivolously, against the applicant due to which he was illegally and arbitrarily arrested."
The petition states that Imran Riaz's name was eliminated from the Exit Control List on June 11.
On the other hand, the PTI termed Imran Riaz's detention "absolutely condemnable" and demanded his release. "It once again represents the complete destruction of the moral values of Pakistan in the last two years," the party stated in a message on X, adding, "Have some sense; your actions hurt Pakistan only." "Is going to Haj now considered a crime in Pakistan?" the PTI said in another post.
While responding to a question regarding the arrest of Imran Riaz, Inspector General of Police Punjab, Dr. Usman Anwa, told journalists that no one can be arrested without the filing of an FIR against him.