Speculations about the recovery of Dr Warren Weinstein kept circulating across the city on Thursday, however the US Lahore Consulate, police or any other law enforcement agencies did not confirm his recovery. Dr Weinstein, an American national working in Pakistan, was abducted from his office-cum-residence in Model Town on August 13.
According to the rumours, Punjab Police and other law enforcement agencies conducted a raid at a house in Khushab and recovered Dr Weinstein safely. However, none of the abductors had been arrested by the raiding party. Reports claimed that Dr Weinstein was ill and had not been presented to the media for the very reason. Lesli Goodman, spokesperson of the US Consulate, denied Dr Weinstein having been recovered. She said the consulate had contacted the Punjab Police chief after the news broke out, but he did not confirm Dr Weinstein’s recovery.
Capital City Police Officer Ahmed Raza Tahir said in a statement that the news aired by several news channels regarding the recovery of Dr Weinstein was completely baseless and no such development had taken place. He said they had contacted Khushab Police as well, but officials there had denied recovering the abducted American. SP Shoaib Khurram also confirmed that no such development had been made by law enforcement agencies. Also, an official of an intelligence agency said that Dr Weinstein was yet to be recovered.
