The complainant of the FIR, which was recorded at 9:30pm on May 14, 2023, is senior journalist Azaz Syed.
According to the complaint lodged by Azaz Syed, both he and Umar Cheema were strolling on Fazle Haq road, at around 8:30pm on May 14. At approximately 8:46pm or 8:47pm, three masked men riding a Honda CD125 motorcycle stopped them and one of the men pointed a gun at them.
The armed robbers demanded they hand over their mobile phones and any money they had. Azaz says that one of the robbers even asked Umar Cheema for the pin code to open his iPhone 14 mobile. After the heist, the robbers rode their motorcycle towards the direction of the Polyclinic.
Azaz lists the value and technical details of their possessions - their mobile phones and nearly Rs 15-20 thousand cash - that got stolen from them at gunpoint.
Both journalists are renowned for a number of investigative stories they have done individually, and they have decades of journalistic experience which has won them international credibility and a multitude of awards.
More recently, both teamed up to start a YouTube podcast called TalkShock, where they discuss current affairs and the inside stories of Pakistan's power corridors and institutional elites. Sources familiar with the incident are of the view that it must be transparently investigated by the authorities whether the armed robbers chose their victims deliberately, or did so indiscriminately.
Analysts say it is deeply disturbing that the armed robbers demanded Umar Cheema give them the access to their iPhone, while they did not demand the same from Azaz, who had handed over his Oppo phone. This suspicious activity definitely points to the possibility that the armed robbers deprived these two investigative journalists from their mobile devices for a specific reason.
Pakistan has long been one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, and for decades, media persons in the country have been subjected to harassment, intimidation, and violence by religious and political groups, as well as alleged institutional oppression and enforced disappearances that are routinely blamed on the Pakistani state's intelligence agencies.