At around 4 p.m. on April 19, five unidentified men abducted Wazir, a reporter for the privately owned Pashto-language broadcaster Khyber News and head of the National Press Club Bannu journalists association, from a market in the city of Bannu, in northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to news reports, a statement by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, a nongovernmental organization, and a person familiar with the case, who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal.  

Two men forced Wazir into a vehicle where others were present, drove him 40 minutes to an unidentified location, and then handcuffed and locked him in a dark bathroom, that person said. The journalist’s captors gave him electric shocks while he remained handcuffed until he agreed to record a video praising pro-government militants, according to the person who spoke to CPJ and an article by Dawn quoting Wazir.

After about 30 hours in captivity, the men blindfolded Wazir and released him in Bannu district on the evening of April 20. He sustained painful injuries to his hands and feet where he was electrocuted, that person told CPJ.

“We are deeply disturbed by the brazen abduction of Pakistani journalist Gohar Wazir in apparent retaliation for his reporting on human rights issues and militancy in tribal areas,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Pakistan authorities must swiftly and impartially investigate Wazir’s abduction and allegations that he was electrocuted in captivity and take serious steps to end a dangerous pattern of impunity related to violence against journalists.”

Wazir filed a complaint at the Bannu City Police Station and received treatment at a local hospital, where he was tested for heart palpitations and prescribed painkillers and sleep medication, the person familiar with his case told CPJ.

That person said they believed Wazir was targeted by pro-government militants in retaliation for his extensive reporting on human rights issues affecting Pashtun people and militancy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Wazir’s captors warned him to stop such work at the risk of his and his family’s safety, citing his reporting on local tribes resisting the construction of a gas pipeline in the Bannu district, the person said.

In the video he was forced to record, Wazir was made to praise the militants for allegedly supporting peace and stability in the country and criticize protests against security forces following a March explosion in the Bannu district, which the journalist had reported on his Facebook pages and for Khyber News, the person told CPJ. 

As of May 2, police had not filed a first information report opening a formal investigation into the incident, the person said, adding that they believed the market’s security footage should allow police to identify the suspects.

CPJ called and messaged Yaseen Kamal, the station house officer of the Bannu City Police Station, and Imran Aslam, the deputy superintendent of the Bannu city police, but received no replies.

Previously, Pakistan security officials detained Wazir from May 27 to 29, 2019, after he reported on demonstrations of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement, which promotes the rights of the Pashtun people, and interviewed PTM leader Mohsin Dawar.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

At around 11 a.m. on Monday, January 23, plainclothes police officers detained Kha, a correspondent for the privately owned broadcaster Deepto TV and privately owned newspaper Dainik Projonmo Ekattor, according to multiple news reports and Supriya Rani Kha, the journalist’s wife, who spoke with CPJ by phone. Kha was detained after reporting on a land dispute in the Khalishakhali area of the southwestern Satkhira district.

Police arrested Kha and two others, alleging they were involved in an attempted bomb blast in coordination with landless people in the area, and authorities initially denied that Kha was in custody, according to those sources.

When the journalist appeared in court the following day, he was unable to stand properly and told his wife that police severely beat him, electrocuted him, and threatened to kill him if he continued reporting on landless people, Supriya Rani Kha told CPJ.

During that hearing, the court ordered Kha to be held in the Satkhira jail while his case is investigated. Supriya Rani Kha said that police have not provided copies of the first information reports in Kha’s case, which would show the specific allegations against him.

“Bangladeshi authorities’ arrest and alleged maltreatment of journalist Raghunath Kha constitute only the latest attack on press freedom in the country, where law enforcement continues to retaliate against journalists with raging impunity,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Kha, drop all cases against him, and conduct a swift investigation into claims that police physically abused him.”

Authorities did not produce Kha in court until about 5 p.m. on Tuesday, his wife said, in apparent violation of Bangladesh’s code of criminal procedure, which provides that police must present an arrested person before a magistrate within 24 hours.

Supriya Rani Kha told CPJ that she believes authorities targeted her husband in retaliation for his reporting highlighting the struggles of landless people in their conflict with land grabbers allegedly supported by police.

In recent months, Satkhira Police Superintendent Kazi Moniruzzaman repeatedly threatened Kha with arrest and legal retaliation in retaliation for his reporting, his wife said, adding that the journalist submitted a written complaint sometime about those threats to Moinul Haque, the deputy inspector-general of the Khulna division police, which oversees the Satkhira branch of the force.

No action was taken against Moniruzzaman, Supriya Rani Kha told CPJ. CPJ emailed Moniruzzaman and Haque and sent them requests for comment via messaging app, but did not receive any replies.

CPJ has previously documented similar allegations of alleged police abuse of detained journalists in Bangladesh. Journalist Shahidul Alam, who was awarded CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award in 2020, told CPJ that police officers beat him in custody. Cartoonist Kabir Kishore told CPJ that authorities beat him and electrocuted his colleague Mushtaq Ahmed, who died in jail.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.