ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Police has failed to make any significant breakthrough in the case concerning the attempted abduction of journalist Taha Siddiqui despite an eyewitness coming forward to corroborate Siddiqui’s ordeal.
According to police, closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras on the highway near Koral Chowk — where Siddiqui made his escape — were out of order for the past three months and identification of assailants could not be ascertained.
A witness, Mashal Butt, came forward on January 10, to further strengthen the claims made by Taha Siddiqui about an alleged abduction attempt by unknown assailants.
Mashal Butt, who is a student of National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), became a witness to Siddiqui running for his life on the Islamabad Expressway early on Wednesday morning.
The US State Department also stated that it would “continue to monitor developments” after journalist Taha Siddiqui escaped an abduction bid in Islamabad
Taha Siddiqui, an Islamabad-based journalist, on Wednesday allegedly narrowly escaped being kidnapped by armed men, in an incident that came months after he complained of being harassed by security services.
He described how his taxi was stopped on the highway when another vehicle veered and braked in front of it. About a dozen men armed with rifles and revolvers pulled him out of the cab, beat him and ‘threatened to kill’ him.
Following the escape, the journalist made his way to the nearby Khanna police station. Khanna police then accompanied him to the Koral police station, in whose jurisdiction the incident took place.
