Pakistani journalist who supported jailed ex-PM Imran Khan freed by captors

A prominent Pakistani television journalist who went missing more than four months ago after being arrested by police returned home Monday after being freed, police and his colleagues said.

It is widely believed that Imran Riaz Khan, known for publicly supporting jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, was being held by security agencies. The two men are not related.

Imran Riaz Khan was arrested at an airport in Sialkot city in Punjab province in May as he tried to leave the country after sharing a video message saying that the space for him to do his job was shrinking in Pakistan and he was leaving so he could continue his professional work.

He went missing after his arrest, and since then his family had been trying to determine his whereabouts.

Police in Sialkot announced Monday on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he had been “safely recovered” and was “now with his family.” They provided no further details.

Hamid Mir, a prominent TV journalist, confirmed that Khan had reached his home in Lahore. Khan's lawyer, Mian Ali Ashfaq, also confirmed his freedom on social media, without saying who had held him.

No one has claimed responsibility for Khan's abduction. The international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders and Pakistan's journalist community had demanded his release.

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