News
Monday, June 20, 2011
Journalist assaulted by ‘police’ in Islamabad
Daily Times Monitor
ISLAMABAD: A journalist was assaulted allegedly by police in Islamabad’s G-8 sector on Saturday, various media reports said on Sunday.
The reports said that Waqar Kayani, who works for local and international newspapers, said he was on his way home when policemen stopped him in the G8 Markaz. The policemen, he said, tortured him before driving away in a police van. Kayani received injuries on his face and back and was shifted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences by rescue services. He was given medical aid there.
Taking notice of the assault, Interior Minister Rehman Malik directed the Islamabad Police inspector general to investigate the incident and submit a report to him. However, the Islamabad Police SSP Tahit Alam asserted that preliminary investigation shows that no police personnel or vehicle were involved in the incident.
British newspaper the Guardian had last week published a report in which it had said that in 2008 Kayani “was abducted, blindfolded, beaten and burned” when he visited Karachi. The newspaper said that Kayani and London-based reporter Ian Cobain had been reporting on “alleged cooperation between Pakistani and British intelligence in the detention and abuse of suspected militants.”
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk