Hareem Shah's husband back home after inquiry over TikTok star's Twitter account

LONDON: Social media sensation Hareem Shah's husband, Bilal Shah, returned home after five days of detention by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), for some questioning over the TikTok star's controversial social media posts.

In a video statement given to Geo News from London, Hareem had alleged that her husband had been “kidnapped for unknown reasons” but Bilal's family had said that he was being questioned in relation to his wife's social media posts.

Bilal was reportedly picked up from Karachi's Qayyumabad area by law enforcement personnel upon his arrival in Pakistan 10 days ago.

During the detention, he was interrogated over the controversial posts published by an account operating under Hareem's name.

“I am back. I was treated with respect by the members of an investigation agency. They asked me questions about the Twitter account running in the name of Hareem, and I told them that I had no idea what this was all about. They checked my phone and everything and found that I had nothing to do with this account," Bilal, who is currently in Karachi, told this reporter.

He said that his family had registered an FIR against unknown persons for his "kidnapping" but he will take that complaint back.

“I believe in the law of Pakistan and have no time to fight these cases”.

According to the security sources, Bilal told the investigators that he didn't know who was running Hareem's account on the microblogging site X, formerly known as Twitter. However, he said that he believes that the account is being run with Hareem's permission and approval, and she knows who the account handler is.

The sources also said that they were interested in speaking to Hareem about the account.

It may be noted that several high-profile figures, including Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leaders, have submitted complaints to the FIA about the account’s alleged defamatory content.

Meanwhile, Bilal's family sources said that he has committed no crime and he was picked up only in relation to the ongoing probe into the X account.

Earlier, a petition was filed in the Sindh High Court against the “illegal detention” of Bilal, allegedly by personnel of the law enforcement agencies.

The complainant, Shahzadi Begum, submitted in the petition that her son Syed Bilal Shah had been picked up by personnel of law enforcement agencies on August 27 from the Korangi area and his whereabouts were unknown.

She said the detainee’s wife Hareem was a social media activist and her spouse was arrested because of her political views in social media.