Pak journo, abducted while pursuing case of missing Indian, rescued after 2 years

Agencies
October 21, 2017

Lahore, Oct 21: A Pakistani woman journalist who was allegedly kidnapped while pursuing the case of an Indian engineer two years ago has been rescued, officials said.

Zeenat Shahzadi, a 26-year-old reporter of Daily Nai Khaber and Metro News TV channel, went missing on 19 August, 2015, when some unidentified men allegedly kidnapped her while she was en route to her office in an auto-rickshaw from her home in a populated locality of Lahore.

Shahzadi was believed to have 'forcibly disappeared' while working on the case of Indian citizen Hamid Ansari, before her abduction. Ansari went missing within the country in November 2012.

Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (CIED) president Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal said Friday evening that Shahzadi had been rescued from an area on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on Thursday night.

"Non-state actors and anti-state agencies had abducted her and she has been rescued from their custody," Iqbal said, adding tribals from Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces had played a key role in her recovery.

"Zeenat Shahzadi on Friday was reunited with her family in Lahore and we are happy for her safe recovery. I am thrilled that she is home safe," rights activist Beena Sarwar said.

Unable to withstand the loss, Shahzadi's brother Saddam Hussain committed suicide in March last year, making her disappearance the focus of headlines again.

"Helping an Indian prisoner – Hamid Ansari – in Pakistan has cost us dearly. My sister is missing and my younger brother (Saddam) who was deeply attached to her hanged himself after losing hope to get reunited with her," Salman Latif, Shahzadi's brother, had said.

"My sister has not committed any crime in helping an Indian national," he said.

Two years ago, Shahzadi had filed an application with the Supreme Court's Human Rights Cell on behalf of Fauzia Ansari, the mother of Indian national Hamid Ansari, who had gone missing in Pakistan since November, 2012.

She secured in August, 2013 a special power of attorney from Ansari's mother. She also pursued his case in the Peshawar High Court.

Ansari was a Mumbai resident arrested in 2012 for illegally entering Pakistan from Afghanistan reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online.

Shahzadi submitted application to the CIED that ordered registration of the FIR in 2014. At the same time, she also filed a habeas corpus petition in the Peshawar High Court.

A writ of habeas corpus is used to bring a prisoner or other detainee before the court to determine if the person's imprisonment or detention is lawful.

"Zeenat received threats from unknown persons who asked her not to pursue the case anymore. We also asked her not to put her life at risk but she said she wanted to help Ansari out of humanity. When she spoke to Ansari's mother she literally cried along with her and vowed to help," Latif said.

Ansari was sentenced to three years' imprisonment reportedly by a military court on charges of illegally entering Pakistan and 'spying'. He is still in jail.

The rights activists, especially former secretary general Human Rights Commission of Pakistan IA Rehman, have voiced for the release of Ansari, saying since he has served his sentence, he ought to be set free now.

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News Network
November 21,2025

israel.jpg

Local authorities say the Israeli military has expanded the so-called “yellow line” truce demarcation in Gaza City and repositioned its forces deeper into the territory in violation of a ceasefire agreement that came into force on October 10, besieging dozens of Palestinian families.

Gaza’s Government Media Office announced in a statement on Thursday that Israeli forces widened the boundary by shifting the markers, and advanced roughly 300 meters (984 feet) into the neighborhoods of Ash-Shaaf, An-Nazzaz and Baghdad Street.

The move pushed further into civilian areas, trapping families who were unable to flee as tanks rolled forward, it added.

“The fate of many of these families remains unknown amidst the shelling that targeted the area,” the office said, adding that the expansion of the yellow line shows a “blatant disregard” for the ceasefire deal.

On Friday, sources said the Israeli military carried out continued air and artillery strikes inside the so-called “yellow line” east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

According to the reports, Israeli warplanes and tanks targeted areas within the zone. One Palestinian was reported killed and several others wounded in the strikes, the sources said.

The fresh aggression came only a day after 25 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City and Khan Younis on Wednesday.

The media office reported that Israel has consistently violated the truce deal since its implementation last month, with near-daily attacks by air, artillery and direct shootings.

The office said over 400 violations have been documented. These breaches have resulted in the deaths of more than 300 Palestinians and left hundreds injured.

The Government Media Office in Gaza urged the guarantors of the ceasefire — the US, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey — to take swift action to halt the ongoing violations and facilitate the delivery of food, shelter materials, medical aid, and infrastructure equipment.

The so-called “yellow line,” set out in the agreement between Israel and Hamas resistance movement, refers to a non-physical partition where the Israeli military repositioned itself when the truce deal took effect.

It has allowed Israel, which routinely fires at Palestinians who approach the line, to retain control over more than half of the Gaza Strip.

International bodies, including the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, B’Tselem, and other rights groups, have concluded that the Israeli war on Gaza amounts to genocide.

In the attacks in Gaza since October 2023, Israel has killed at least 69,546 people and injured 170,833 others, leveling large swaths of the territory and displacing almost all of the population. 

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News Network
December 2,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 2: Mangaluru International Airport responded to a medical emergency late on Monday night. Air India Express flight IX 522, travelling from Riyadh to Thiruvananthapuram, was diverted to Mangaluru Airport after a passenger in his late 30s experienced a medical emergency on board.

The Airport’s Operations Control Centre received an alert regarding the passenger’s health condition. The airport activated its emergency response protocol, mobilising the airport medical team and coordinating with stakeholders including CISF, immigration, and customs. 

Upon landing, airport medical personnel attended to the passenger, assessed his condition, and arranged to shift him to a local tertiary-care hospital for further treatment. The passenger’s relatives accompanied the passenger, who incidentally received necessary medical care on board, which helped stabilise the situation.

Following the handling of the emergency, the flight departed for Thiruvananthapuram at 2:05 am on Tuesday.

"We appreciate the cooperation of all parties involved, and this incident reaffirms our ongoing commitment to prioritising passenger safety and readiness to respond to unforeseen emergencies with professionalism and care," the Airport spokesperson said. 

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News Network
November 22,2025

Mangaluru: Police Commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy C H has warned of strict action against individuals spreading rumours and attempting to create insecurity within the Muslim community and fuel hatred between Hindus and Muslims through social media.

Referring to a recent social media post alleging that police personnel had entered a masjid premises to check whether beef was being cooked, the commissioner said miscreants were attempting to push their communal agenda. 

“A group of people, both from Mangaluru and abroad, are trying hard to spread rumours. For the past 10 days, they have been attempting to rake up old issues, highlight routine matters as controversies, or fabricate news altogether,” he said.

He reiterated that any such attempts to disturb communal harmony would invite legal action. “Cases will be registered and the accused will be brought to book,” he stated.

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