By Mubasher Bukhari
LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) – A prominent Pakistani TV journalist turned promoter of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s political party returned home on Monday, police and his lawyer said, giving no indication of where he had been since he disappeared in May.
A court last week gave the police until Sept. 26 to recover Imran Riaz, a social media influencer popular with Khan’s followers, or face legal action. Police had told the court he was not in their custody or being held by intelligence agencies.
Riaz, who has more than five million followers on X, formerly known as Twitter, had taken on the Pakistani military and its intelligence agencies after Khan was removed from power in April 2022 and blamed the army for his ouster.
The latest criticism by Riaz of the military included serious accusations made without producing evidence.
Local police have said they detained him in the eastern city of Sialkot on May 11, two days after Khan’s supporters attacked military installations as the former leader was arrested. The police said they had detained Riaz in connection with the violence but had released him on May 15 and had no further information on his whereabouts.
“Imran Riaz has been safely recovered. He is now with his family,” the police said in a statement on Monday.
His lawyer Ali Ashfaq also said he had been reunited with his family. Neither he nor the police statement said where he had been.
Five policemen deployed outside his house did not allow any media access to him, telling reporters that they would permit only people requested by those inside.
In statements to the Lahore High Court, which has been hearing petitions seeking his release, police had testified that Riaz was not in the custody of any of the Pakistani intelligence agencies.
Human rights groups have accused those agencies of being behind the disappearances of political workers, leader and rights activists, allegations which the authorities deny.
(Writing by Asif Shahzad; editing by Edmund Blair and Philippa Fletcher)
