Hareem Shah’s spouse returns home after being questioned over her Twitter account

LONDON: Tik-Tok star Hareem Shah’s husband Bilal Shah has been freed after remaining in the custody of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for around five days over his wife’s alleged Twitter handle.

Bilal Shah had reached Pakistan around ten days ago and he was picked up from Karachi’s Qayyumabad area by law enforcement personnel. He remained in custody where he was investigated over controversial tweets published from an account operating under Hareem Shah’s name.

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

He said his family had registered an FIR against his kidnapping against unknown persons but he will be taking back his complaint as “I believe in the law of Pakistan and have no time to fight these cases”.

According to the security sources, Bilal Shah told the investigators that he had no idea who was running his wife’s Twitter account but he added that he thought the Twitter account was being run with Hareem Shah’s permission and approval and she knows who the account handler is.

The sources said that they were interested in speaking to Hareem Shah about the account. It’s understood that several high-profile figures, including those belonging to the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUIF), have made complaints to the FIA about the account’s alleged defamatory content.

Bilal Shah’s family sources said Bilal has committed no crime and he was picked up only in relation to the ongoing probe into the Twitter account.

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

Hareem Shah said: “Bilal and I were in London and he went to Pakistan for some work. He was illegally kidnapped by some people in plain clothes. We made a complaint to the local police station, but nobody has any idea why he has been picked. We have petitioned the court as well. Bilal has been taken away illegally.”

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

Shahzadi Begum had submitted in the petition that her son 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 Shah was a social media activist and her spouse was arrested because of her political views in social media.