Missing Pakistani journalist in ISI custody: HRW

Lahore, May 31(ANI): The Human Rights Watch has learnt through credible sources that missing Pakistani journalist, Saleem Shahzad, is in custody of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), HRW's Pakistan representative Ali Dayan Hasan has said.

Dayan said that the ISI remains a major human rights abuser in Pakistan, and that it frequently keeps abusing and torturing those journalists it disagrees with, the Daily Times reports.

The HRW had previously documented similar cases of abduction and torture on journalists by security agencies, he added.

Shahzad, who was working as bureau chief of the Asia Times Online in Islamabad, was whisked away by unidentified people on Sunday evening when he left his F-8 Sector residence to participate in a television talk show.

His mobile phone remained switched off and his car could not be traced.

People close to Shahzad said that he was picked up by officers of an intelligence agency, who promised through anonymous calls to release him soon.

They stated that the journalist had received numerous warnings from Pakistani security agencies for his news reporting in the past.

Shahzad's recent reporting on the 17-hour siege of Karachi's Mehran Naval Station by Pakistani Taliban militants might have become the reason of his abduction, they added.

Meanwhile, a case has been registered against the unidentified abductors in the F-8 Sector Police Station. (ANI)