Religious scholar Nasir Madni says he was kidnapped, tortured, filmed and asked for money

Religious scholar Nasir Madni on Wednesday submitted an FIR against his alleged abduction and torture at Lahore’s Mazang Police Station.

The cleric had alleged that he was abducted, tortured and asked for money, following which Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar took notice of the incident and ordered action.

Police said that after medical examination of Madni, it will take action according to the law.

Madni, addressed a press conference at Lahore Press Club on Tuesday, where he said that he was abducted by unknown men and asked for extortion money. He said that he was also beaten and stripped off his clothes, while his abductors shot a video of him.

While showing his bruises to the media, the cleric said that the abductors asked for his password for YouTube channel and confiscated his phone.

“They ran news that I am suffering from coronavirus,” said Madni.

Earlier, the cleric said that unknown culprits abducted him at gunpoint after requesting on WhatsApp from foreign phone number to lead prayers in Kharian area some days ago.

The abductors also threatened the cleric against going public with the details or approaching police, according to him.

Madni said that he was receiving threats by unknown callers few days ago over his video message criticising the huge increase in Haj expenditures, and he had lodged a complaint with the police and requested for providing security which he was still awaiting, according to the report.

The cleric said that he then asked for security for himself and his family.

Following the incident and the cleric’s press talk, CM Punjab Buzdar took notice and summoned a report from Inspector General of Police Punjab Shoaib Dastgir.

The CM Punjab asked authorities to arrest the culprits and provide justice to the cleric.

The cleric is known for his criticism of the government and its policies, with one of his videos criticizing the government for lack of adequate measures against the coronavirus spread in the country.

Police on Wednesday arrested and recovered weapons from four kidnappers involved in the nabbing and beating up of Maulana Nasir Madni.According to sources, the arrested suspects had called Nasir Madni to Kharian where they kidnapped him for uploading videos on social media and subjected him to physical violence.The criminals were arrested from Gujrat and they were being transported to Lahore. They were caught after being identified using CCTV footage. Police sources have revealed that among the arrested are Ghulam Rabbani, Ali Abbas, Nazim Hussain and Asif Iqbal.Weapons such as Kalashnikovs, rifles and pistols as well as a large cache of bullets were also recovered from the suspects. A case had been registered against the culprits in Muzang Police Station, Lahore the previous night.