ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal has taken notice of an alleged attempt to kidnap journalist Taha Siddiqui in Islamabad.
Siddiqui escaped an abduction attempt after being assaulted by 10-12 armed men on his way to the airport on Wednesday morning.
“I was on my way to the airport at 8:20 AM when 10-12 armed men stopped my cab and forcibly tried to abduct me. I managed to escape. Safe and with police now. Looking for support in any way possible,” he said on Twitter using account of another journalist Cyril Almeida.
The Rawalpindi Union of Journalists has expressed serious concern over the attempted kidnapping.
Taking notice of the incident, the interior minister sought a report of the incident from IG Islamabad.
Holding a press conference this evening, Siddiqui said he considers his escape a miracle and was still recovering from the shock.
“They held a handgun on me, while one of the men asked to ‘shoot him in the leg’,” he said, adding that the cab driver witnessed the entire episode.
Bureau chief of World is One News, Siddiqui had filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court in May 2017 over alleged harassment by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). After hearing the petition, the Islamabad High Court had directed the FIA to stop harassing the journalist.
Speaking further at the press conference, he said that he was summoned by the FIA after his name cropped up in a list of social media activists in 2011.
The journalist said that back then, he was questioned by a deputy director with the agency.
Siddiqui said his case was heard only once and it has not been fixed for hearing again.
