The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) announced on Saturday that Usman Dar, a prominent party leader, has been kidnapped by unidentified individuals from the Malir Cantt area in Karachi.
Omar Ayub, the PTI Secretary General, took to the social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, to allege that Dar was taken against his will by unknown people at around 4:30pm that day. According to Ayub, Dar’s current whereabouts are unknown, and the police deny having him in their custody.
The PTI strongly condemns what they view as Dar’s abduction and enforced disappearance, demanding his immediate recovery.
The party’s president in Karachi placed blame on the caretaker provincial government, claiming they were responsible and continuing the “fascist trend” introduced by the PPP government.
Farrukh Habib, a member of the PTI, called for the immediate disclosure of the detained leader and his presentation in court if there are any charges against him. This would enable Dar to exercise his right to defend himself and allow his family to have contact with him.
In a previous incident in August, Dar reported that his house, factory, and businesses in Sialkot were sealed off, leaving his family members, including women, stranded. He stated that the state had sealed all of his properties, including Jinnah House and his family’s business ventures, resulting in women and children being forced onto the streets.
“The state is engaging in abusive behavior towards me and my family,” Dar asserted, and expressed his intention to seek justice for the mistreatment of his mother. He stated that he is prepared to appear in court if a fair trial is guaranteed, and he appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to address this issue.
The PTI faced a severe crackdown by the state after Imran Khan, the leader of the PTI, was arrested on May 9. The arrest prompted widespread violence, with significant military installations being targeted. Dar’s house was also raided by the Punjab police in March as part of a province-wide operation against hundreds of PTI workers.