The Federal Investigation Agency has arrested journalist Mohsin Baig from his house in the capital Islamabad on a complaint filed by Federal Communications Minister Murad Saaed.
Details revealed suggest that Baig was detained by the FIA Cybercrime wing which conducted the raid alongside police.
The journalist had been critical of the government’s policies and appeared in various television talk shows as an analyst. Speaking with a local TV channel, his son said that FIA officials raided the house in plain clothes and arrested his father. He said the officials “dragged” the journalist to their van when he resisted during the raid.
On the other hand, footage released by local media showed the journalist opening fire at the FIR officials and injuring one officer. Baig’s son said that they thought the officials were thieves and opened fire on them in defense. However, they later introduced themselves as law enforcement officers at which Baig and his son asked them to show arrest warrants which they did not have.
In a press release later released by the Federal Investigation Agency, it was revealed that the agency acted upon a complaint filed by Federal Communications Minister Murad Saeed. It said that a team raided Baig’s home after obtaining a ‘search and seize warrant’ from the court. The document said that Baig, his sons and their servants opened fire on the raiding team and abducted the officers. The raiding officers moved in and took the journalist in custody when their ammunition ran out. The team shifted him to Margalla Police Station in Islamabad.
Moreover, a Sessions Court has declared the raid on the journalist’s house illegal, saying that the raid was conducted without any evidence or search warrant.
The event is the second arrest made by law enforcement agencies in the past week over commentaries against the government. The FIA arrested a social media activist on Monday for running trends against Prime Minister Imran Khan.
