Journalist Waris Raza was allegedly abducted from his residence in Karachi in the early hours of Wednesday before being released in the evening, his colleagues and news outlets reported.
Waris’s brother Arif Raza confirmed to a media outlet that he had returned home in the evening.
Earlier, in a tweet, Waris’s daughter Laila Raza had alleged that her father had been abducted by “law enforcement agencies”. “They want to suppress all progressive voices! My father has done nothing but speak truth to powers that be!” she wrote.
According to his friends, Waris, having over 30 years of experience in print and electronic media, is currently working as a columnist for Urdu daily Express.
As per report published on Dawn, Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ) General Secretary Fahim Siddiqi said that law-enforcement agencies personnel had arrived at Waris’s home in Sahafi Colony in Gulshan-i-Iqbal at around 2:45am and taken him away. The security personnel had told the family members that they would release him after a short while.
According to Siddiqi, Waris made phone contact with his family at around 6:50am, informing them that “he is coming.” His whereabouts were not known since then.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Farhatullah Babar termed the eports of Waris’s kidnapping “highly disturbing”, and tweeted, “Waris Raza must be safely recovered urgently and perpetrators named, shamed and prosecuted. Everyone must raise voice.”
