Baloch Student Abducted From Lahore Following Karachi University Blast Finally Released

Baloch Student Abducted From Lahore Following Karachi University Blast Finally Released
Bebgar Imdad, the Baloch student who was abducted from Punjab University on April 26, was released by security agencies earlier today (Tuesday). Baloch Council chairperson Ehsan Baloch confirmed the development.

https://twitter.com/EhsaanBaluch/status/1523887033793630208

Imdad is a seventh semester student at NUML University, where he is studying english literature. He had come to Lahore to spend Eid holidays with his cousin, who was a Punjab University student, and was staying at the university hostels with him.

On April 26, around 7:40 am, he was picked up by plainclothesmen and put into a pickup truck, following which his whereabouts remained unknown for the next 14 days.

The Baloch Students Council held daily sit-ins outside the office of Punjab University's vice chancellor for his immediate release, and expressed serious concerns over the safety of Baloch students.

Ehsan Baloch said on Tuesday that they would now end the sit-in and would hold a press conference to address the matter further.

In a press release that followed, he said that while they Baloch Council was elated at the recovery of Bebgar Imdad, they wanted to question why there was no inquiry being made into the forces behind his abduction.

"The abduction and harassment of Baloch students has become a norm now, and as a result, the Baloch youth is terrified and lives in fear," the statement read.

https://twitter.com/EhsaanBaluch/status/1523973992679460866

After Imdad's cousin filed an appeal with the Lahore High Court (LHC) for his immediate release, the CCPO of Lahore informed the LHC that Imdad hadn't been 'abducted', he had been taken into custody by the Karachi Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) during their investigation of the Karachi blast.

The CCPO also said that the university's Chief Security Officer (CSO) Col. Ubaid had assisted the Karachi CTD in seizing Bebgar.

At the hearing, counsel for the petitioner Asad Jamal, questioned the legality of the arrest and transfer of Imdad from Lahore to Karachi, without seeking a transit remand from a court of law.