Businessman remains missing a week after alleged abduction during Lahore house robbery

LAHORE: A businessman who was allegedly taken away during a robbery at his home in Lahore a week ago remains missing, while law-enforcement agencies have denied holding him in custody in any registered case.

Syed Masood Hassan Rizvi, a resident of Valencia Town, was allegedly abducted for the second time in Lahore, with both disappearances lasting about a week. He had also gone missing for a week in October 2025 before reappearing. At that time, his family was told that he was in the custody of the Factory Area police in connection with a monetary dispute case registered against him. He was later released after the Lahore High Court confirmed his bail in that case.

Dawn reported that it contacted officials of the Federal Investigation Agency, police and the Crime Control Department Punjab, and all of them denied that Rizvi was in their custody in any registered case.

FIR registered on wife’s complaint

Lahore Operations DIG Faisal Kamran said police had visited the scene, carried out an inquiry and then registered a case against unidentified armed men on the complaint of Rizvi’s wife. He said the first information report was lodged under Section 365 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which deals with kidnapping or abducting a person with the intent to secretly and wrongfully confine them.

Elite Force Punjab DIG Mehboob Aslam Lila declined to comment when contacted for his version, as personnel of his force had been nominated in the FIR registered at Kahna police station.

Rizvi’s wife, Sumera Syed, told police and Dawn on Tuesday that the family was having dinner at around 11pm on April 1 when around 10 armed men entered their residence after scaling the outer wall. She said one of the men was wearing an Elite Force uniform, while the other nine had masks on. In the FIR, she stated that seven of the 10 suspects were also wearing uniforms and were carrying AK/47 rifles when they entered the house.

She alleged that the intruders held her, her husband and their physically challenged young son Abbas Hassan Rizvi, who was on a wheelchair, at gunpoint. She said the attackers turned violent and tortured both her and her husband. According to her complaint, the suspects removed gold rings, bangles and a locket set weighing 10 tola that she was wearing.

She further alleged that the men searched the house and took away five mobile phones, three Apple laptops and Rs2 million in cash. She said they also seized house ownership papers, her husband’s CNIC and passport, and the original file of a car.

Family says suspects took away DVR

Sumera Syed said her elder son also arrived at the house and became alarmed after seeing a black double-cabin vehicle, a Land Cruiser and another car parked outside. As he entered the house, she alleged, the armed men also held him at gunpoint and after gathering the valuables and documents, the suspects dragged Rizvi outside, forced him into a vehicle and drove away. "We immediately called 15 and a police officer reached the house to investigate the incident," she added.

Police attempted to inspect the home’s security cameras to identify the suspects, but found that the digital video recorder had already been taken away.

The family said the local police had cooperated with them and registered the FIR against the alleged kidnappers. It also voiced concern about Rizvi’s condition and safety as his whereabouts remain unknown.