Security agency officer, personnel suspended for torturing anchorperson Iqrar-ul-Hassan

• During recording of show "Sar-e-Aam," security agency officials tortured and beat up Iqrar-ul-Hasan.
• According to police, Iqrar or management of private channel have not registered any complaint for legal action.
• AEMEND condemns incident, says "any cowardly action cannot stop media from carrying out its duties”.  

KARACHI: Five personnel, including an officer of a security agency, have been suspended for torturing television host and journalist Iqrar-ul-Hassan in the Saddar area of the metropolis yesterday, Geo News reported on Tuesday.

During the recording of his show "Sar-e-Aam," the officials had tortured and beat him, inflicting serious injuries. He was rushed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for treatment.

The incident came to light after his pictures went viral on social media. Hassan accused five officials of torture. The officials were later suspended. 

According to the police, neither Hassan nor the management of the private channel registered any complaint at a police station for legal action, therefore, the police have not taken any action on their own.

The officials who tortured the anchorperson have already been suspended the day the incident took place. The suspended officials include Syed Moinuddin Rizwan Mehboob Ali, Rajab Ali, and Khawar.

The Association of the Electronic Media Editors and News Directors (AEMEND) condemned the incident, saying that “it is not acceptable to take out anger on a journalist’s investigative story; however, any cowardly action cannot stop a media from carrying out its duties”.