Dr. Riaz Ahmed is a professor at Karachi University (KU) and a member of the syndicate. Police revealed on Sunday that they had arrested him the previous day in connection with a 2017 case; they stated that he was released once it was established that he had been found not guilty.
After being freed from custody on Saturday, Dr. Ahmed said he was “abducted” in order to keep him from going to a syndicate meeting where a sitting judge of the Islamabad High Court was scheduled to have his degree decided.
Following a protest by teachers, students, and human rights advocates against his eight-hour “detention” outside the Bahadurabad Police Station, he was freed by the police.
“Social media has launched a campaign that Professor Dr. Riaz, who teaches at the University of Karachi’s chemistry department, was detained by Bahadurabad police without any justification and who was released later on,” police spokesperson Syed Umair Shah told Dawn.com today.
According to social media users, the arrest was made for “some hidden and complex reasons,” the police continued.
In order to confirm this, information was requested from the Bahadurabad police; however, Station House Officer (SHO) Mohammed Naeem Rajput emphasized that it was a “routine matter,” according to the statement.
The SHO reported that he had got information about the presence of Riaz, a “absconder,” within the jurisdiction of Bahadurabad police. Riaz was wanted by Artillery Maidan Police Station in a FIR 35/2017.
According to the police statement, Dr. Ahmed confirmed that he was a professor at KU and that the case against him had resulted in his acquittal when officers brought him into prison.
“This matter did not have any hidden aspects.”
In the meantime, Dr. Ahmed refuted the police account and restated in a statement that he was kidnapped in order to keep him from going to the KU syndicate meeting, where the topic of a sitting IHC judge’s degree was addressed.
He claimed that a sitting IHC judge was the victim of a “injustice” and he requested Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to take notice.
He objected to the inquiry body’s establishment and claimed that it was conducting a biased investigation.
“An Unfair Means Committee report not commissioned by the syndicate” was authorized during the meeting, according to the professor, and it was deemed “against the [Karachi] University Rules.”
