Agencies Close To TRACING SUSPECT In vlogger Thrashing INCIDENT: MINISTER

MINISTER for Interior Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed on Tuesday said security agencies were close to tracing one of the suspects responsible for beating up a vlogger outside his apartment in Islamabad, Radio Pakistan reported.

Three unidentified men thrashed Asad Ali Toor following a scuffle late on Tuesday night. He claimed the attackers tied him, gagged him, punched and hit him before fleeing the scene.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Rasheed said that the National Database and Registration Authority, Federal Investigation Agency and police were conducting an inquiry into the episode.

“The fingerprints will be identified in a day or two,” he said. Advertisements would be published in the newspapers if authorities were unsuccessful in tracing the suspects, he announced.

Responding to a question from a reporter, the minister reiterated that NADRA was conducting a fingerprint analysis the results of which would be out soon. “Otherwise we will give ads in the newspapers with the photos of the three suspects because some people are accusing our agencies according to a specific agenda.”

The minister said the receptionist, who had recorded his statement, said he did not stop the suspects because they were frequent visitors.

Rasheed said that it was necessary to bring the case to its logical conclusion as some people “unnecessarily” target the security agencies to please their “foreign masters”.

When asked, Rasheed pointed that there needed to be a policy with regard to such incidents as it raise question marks about the government’s performance and also become a human rights issue.

“I think that if we are successful in reaching these culprits, all those who blame our agencies will be silenced,” he said, adding that such individuals were unaware of the damage they cause to the country’s image in the eyes of the world.

Asked about veteran journalist Hamid Mir, who was taken off air after making a fiery speech at a protest calling for accountability for repeated assaults on journalists in the country, the minister said: “I didn’t close it down. I haven’t interacted with him in the past few years, nor have I ever been on his programme.”

The minister began his press conference by talking about his recent visit to Kuwait which has decided to resume granting visas to Pakistani families and businessmen. “It was a highly successful tour,” he said that 425 doctors would leave for Kuwait this week.

He added that the Kuwaiti prime minister had also expressed willingness to issue visas for the construction sector.

“Similarly, 30 percent of the three million visas Saudi Arabia will give out will go to Pakistanis,” he said, adding that foreign remittances were a large part of the economy.

Commenting on the Pakistan Democratic Movement, the minister said that only Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Pakistan Muslim League-nawaz remained in the alliance. “I don’t know about the others. It is done,” he said, calling on journalists to name the parties in the alliance.

“Two have left and two remain. It is completely defunct but everyone is playing it up on the media,” he said.