Brother of Usman Dar abducted, claims PTI

LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday claimed that Umar Dar, the brother of former party leader Usman Dar, was allegedly abducted in Lahore, accusing PMLN’s Khawaja Asif of “engineering” the incident to weaken the Dar family’s position in the upcoming elections.

Lahore Police Spokesman Agha Ehtesham refuted reports, suggesting that the police detained Umar. He did not provide further details.

In a video shared by the PTI on X (formerly Twitter), Umar’s mother said that she had just discovered her son’s abduction from Lahore.

She appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) to intervene and take notice of the situation.

“I am a mother and a widow. I am deeply distressed by the current situation. I appeal to the CJP to ensure the appearance of my son in court,” she said in the video.

She added: “I am facing all these challenges solely to prevent me from participating in elections. I have been denied the opportunity to submit my papers, and there are police personnel stationed outside my residence.

I assert the truth that these actions are aimed at hindering my candidacy in the polls.”

In its post on Instagram, the PTI said the “abduction of Umar Dar during scrutiny phase in the election is another episode of the mockery of law going on in Pakistan.”

Backing the PTI claims, another party leader Omar Ayub Khan also condemned the abduction, saying “Umar — the son of Rehana Dar, who submitted her nomination papers from Sialkot to contest against Asif — has been abducted by unknown people from Lahore”. “The reign of terror against PTI continues unabated,” Ayub said in a post on X.