LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday once again gave an opportunity to police for the recovery of allegedly miss­­ing anchorperson Imran Riaz till July 25.

An additional inspector general of police appeared on behalf of the Punjab po­­­lice chief as Chief Jus­tice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti resumed hearing of a petition filed by the father of the anchorperson.

Advocate Mian Ali Ashfaq, the petitioner’s counsel, told the court that meetings with a special working group of the police had been fruitful and positive news about the whereabouts of the missing anchorperson cou­ld emerge anytime soon.

However, he said, there were some hurdles on ad­­ministrative sides, which needed to be removed.

A government law officer denied the claim of the petitioner’s counsel.

A representative of the defence ministry also told the court that best efforts were being made to recover Imran Riaz.

He assured the court about the removal of the administrative hurdles, if any, faced by the petitioner.

At this, the chief justice adjourned further hearing till July 25.

During a previous hearing, IGP Dr Usman Anwar had told the court that all the law-enforcement agencies had been working jointly and the special working group of the Punjab police held its meetings to review the progress of all police units, including the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), for the recovery of Imran Riaz.

Police admitted to have arrested Riaz on May 11 from Sialkot airport and shifted him to jail.

The police claimed the whereabouts of the anchorperson were unknown since his release from the jail following the withdrawal of his detention order by the government.

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2023