Pakistan Press Foundation
26 Mar 2025

Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) is deeply concerned by the manner in which Islamabad-based journalist, associated with Urdu News , Waheed Murad, was picked up from his home in Islamabad and later found to have a criminal complaint registered against him by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). PPF urges the relevant authorities to provide transparency in its actions and clarity of the circumstances that led to the action against Murad.  

According to Geo News , Murad was taken from his residence at 2 am on March 26. His wife said men had knocked on their door and had accused him of being an Afghan national. When he had denied and shared his ID card through the door, they had broken in, and men in black uniforms took him away. As per the report, the men also confiscated cell phones belonging to Murad and his mother-in-law. 

A petition was filed in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) by Murad’s mother-in-law, Abida Nawaz. As per the petition, Murad was “forcibly disappeared” from his home in Sector G-8 Islamabad by “unknown officials presumably belonging to intelligence agencies and accompanied by persons in black uniforms and two police double cabin vehicles.”

The petition stated that Abida was an eye witness of the enforced disappearance and herself was manhandled by abductors. 

“It is pertinent to mention that the detenu is a journalist who has recently raised his voice for the release of another journalist, Ahmad Noorani’s two abducted brothers,” the petition read. 

The petition also notes that Murad had called a colleague, informing him about the abduction and told him that armed men were trying to enter his home. When the colleague contacted another journalist, Subhan Raja, who went to Murad’s home, he saw that a few vehicles were speeding from the scene. He was on a motorcycle and chased the vehicles to determine whether Murad was in them. While he was making a video, a vehicle hit him from behind, and he fell down. As per the petition, some “unknown armed men” got out of the car and threatened to kill Raja if he didn’t hand over his phones and their passwords. 

According to Dawn.com, Islamabad police had earlier denied having knowledge of the incident. 

In the afternoon on March 26, it was revealed that a criminal complaint (First Investigation Report) had been registered against Murad at the Federal Investigation Agency Cyber Crime Reporting Centre Islamabad. The FIR stated that Murad was found sharing “highly intimidating content/post on social media/Facebook and X Corp.”

Photo Source: Waheed Murad X