LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Friday directed Inspector General of Police (IGP) to submit a progress report about the recovery of anchorperson Imran Riaz and rose for Saturday (today) till 10.30 am as his whereabouts remain unknown.
The court also directed the IGP to produce video record of Imran Riaz leaving Sialkot jail. Earlier the IGP said, “If an individual is hiding out of his own will, then we don’t have anything to say”.
While the IG was giving the briefing, the LHC CJ observed that “police were helpless.” The IGP briefed the court on the progress, saying that they had held meetings with relevant agencies and formed a working group, a meeting of which was also held.
He also presented a chart in the court, informing that geofencing was first carried out at the Sialkot airport.
The official further said police had obtained 50 recordings of CCTV footage and it would take three to four days to review all of them. He assured the court that police were making all-out efforts and employing all resources to locate Imran.
It had been four to five days since the matter was taken up but there was no development, he added.
A CCTV recording pertaining to Imran’s arrest was then played in the court, which showed him being taken away from the jail in a vehicle. While the footage was being played, the LHC CJ directed for the video to be paused and zoomed in so that Imran’s face and the vehicle’s number plate become clearly visible.
He further instructed to play another recording showing Imran leaving the premise. The IG requested five minutes’ time to play the video, following which Imran’s counsel asked where was the recording from inside the jail. “Imran Riaz can be seen clearly in that recording,” he said. The video asked for was not present with the police and hence sought time to produce. The court accordingly adjourned the proceedings for a day and directed to appear with the video showing Imran Riaz leaving the jail.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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