A Lahore district court on Wednesday remanded anchorperson Imran Riaz, who was arrested last night, in police custody for one day in a fraud case.
Riaz was taken into custody at the Allama Iqbal International Airport late Tuesday night while he was departing for Saudi Arabia for Haj. The visuals of the arrest, which showed the journalist clad in an ihram, went viral on social media.
He was later presented before Judicial Magistrate Muhammad Kamran Zafar by the Nishtar Town police. According to the first information report (FIR), a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, Riaz has been accused of abuse of trust. It invoked Section 406 (Punishment for criminal breach of trust) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
During the hearing today, the police sought seven-day physical remand of Riaz. The prosecutor stated that the anchorperson had borrowed Rs0.25 billion from the complainant but he never returned the money.
Meanwhile, Riaz’s lawyer, Mian Ashfaq, alleged that the case against his client was fake. “The complainant was an agent at Maryam Nawaz’s polling station,” he contended.
After hearing the arguments from both sides, the judge reserved the verdict. Later, he granted police one-day physical remand of Riaz.
Arrest and rearrest
Imran Riaz — a YouTuber and television anchor — was arrested two days after violent protests broke out across the country following PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9. He was last known to be taken to Cantt police station after his arrest and later to the Sialkot prison. On May 15, a law officer had told the Lahore High Court that the anchorperson was released from jail after taking an undertaking in writing. His whereabouts, however, remained unknown.
Subsequently, a first information report (FIR) of Riaz’s alleged abduction was registered with Sialkot Civil Lines police on May 16 on the complaint of the anchorperson’s father, Muhammad Riaz. The FIR was registered against “unidentified persons” and police officials for allegedly kidnapping Riaz, invoking Section 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person) of the Pakistan Penal Code. The journalist’s father had also filed a plea in the LHC for his recovery.
Source:dawnnews.com
Wednesday, April 29, 2026
