KARACHI: A journalist working with a private television news channel has gone missing since March while filming a military base used by US forces, his company said on Wednesday.
The whereabouts of Mukesh Rupeta remained unknown since March when he was arrested by police for filming Shahbaz Air Base in southern Jacobabad, a Geo television spokesman said in a statement. “The only available report with regard to Rupeta was that he has been detained by the authorities,” he said. After repeated queries, officials accused Rupeta of filming the Jacobabad Air Base for which he was detained and interrogated, he said. “His disappearance for the last three months has increased anxiety among the members of his family and colleagues in Geo,” the spokesman said.
Journalists in several southern cities have held protest rallies demanding his release and seeking information about his whereabouts. Geo had been in contact with the authorities since March but the recent discovery of journalist Hayatullah Khan’s body had added to fears for Rupeta’s safety, the Geo spokesman said.
Officials said they had no information about Rupeta. “The government has no information about Rupeta,” Sindh Interior Minister Rauf Siddiqui told protesting journalists in Karachi. “We will try to locate Rupeta’s whereabouts,” he said. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has expressed concern over the disappearance of the Geo correspondent and demanded his early recovery. “The Pakistani government must investigate Rupeta’s disappearance and ensure that the perpetrators of these horrendous crimes are brought to justice,” IFJ President Christopher Warren said in a statement.
