A journalist from Sindh’s Khairpur district “faked his own kidnapping,” police said on Sunday, after a video posted on his Facebook account showed him chained and pleading for release, claiming to have been abducted by dacoits for a ransom of Rs10 million.
The video posted on Friday, which also showed the journalist, Fayyaz Solangi, being tortured by a masked armed man, sparked a strong outcry from the journalist community in the upper region of Sindh, leading to demonstrations in several towns on Saturday.
Solangi’s colleague, Ghulam Hussain Chang, said at Hingorja Press Club that the journalist went missing on Jan 12, with his motorcycle found parked along a link road around 7:00 pm. Police and fellow journalists searched for him but failed to locate him. After the video confirmed his abduction, Solangi’s uncle claimed that he received a call from kidnappers demanding Rs10 million ransom.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah later directed the Sindh inspector-general of police to recover the journalist and submit a report.
