Imran Riaz Khan (Punjabi, Urdu: عمران ریاض خان born 14 August 1975, Faisalabad) is a youtuber working for a political party, PTI. 

Imran Riaz has been a news reporter, a celebrated sought after TV Anchor & is the most watched vlogger of Pakistan, watched more than 10 million times every week.

On 11 May 2023, Khan was reported to have been arrested by police while fleeing from Pakistan. He was arrested for inciting violence among the people and doing propaganda against state institutions.

Journalism career 
He started his career as a news anchor and journalist on the Express News channel. He started his YouTube channel "Imran Riaz Khan" in 2020, which as of October 2022 has more than 3.48 million subscribers.

As a current affairs host he has also worked with the television channels GNN, and Samaa TV.

Arrests

First Arrest 
While entering Islamabad Toll Plaza on 5 July 2022, he was driving "to the federal capital to get bail from the Islamabad High Court," and was arrested when Punjab Police surrounded his car before he could pass out of Punjab jurisdiction, despite being aware of court orders by the Islamabad and Lahore High Courts, and issuances of protective pre-arrest bail grants, intended to avoid an arrest of the journalist. Riaz later uploaded a video on YouTube stating that if he is not released, he will release the names of everyone who is behind the alleged regime change operation in which foreign influence provoked a constitutional crisis, ultimately ending with the PTI government of Imran Khan being ousted, when the former Prime Minister was removed from office in what he calls an "American conspiracy" against the sovereignty of Pakistan.

A day before his arrest, Riaz was critical of the Shehbaz Sharif-led government and uploaded a video to YouTube, in which Dawn News said Riaz "directly addressed Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa and alleged that he was threatened after asking questions from military sources about the country's current political and economic situation." Riaz also indicated that his family is the target of threats.

Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan strongly protested the "arbitrary arrest" and called on the public as well as the media to "unite and stand up against this fascism." Former official Asad Umar stated that PTI party workers will stage protests at press clubs throughout the country for what he said is an "attempt to suppress freedom of expression". Immediately following the arrest, reports showed a wide condemnation of the treatment and expressions of concern stemming from similar ideological grounds favoring free speech, including that of academic and activist Ammar Ali Jan, who warned of the irrationality in "clumsy" uses of force in a "battle of ideas."

He was released on bail on 9 July 2022, by Lahore High Courts' Judge Justice Baqar Najafi. His name was added to the Exit Control List by the FIA on the request of the police.

Second Arrest 

He was arrested again on Feb 2nd, 2023 on charges of “hate speech” and making a “violence-inducing statement” aimed at creating “a rift between the general public and the state institutions”. and was released a week later.

Third Arrest & Disappearance 

In the aftermath of the May 9 riots, he was arrested once again by Punjab Police on 11 May 2023 from Sialkot Airport. The police later stated that he was released from jail the same night despite a detention notice of 30-days. After his release from jail, CCTV footage showed Riaz being abducted from outside the prison by 4-5 unidentified men who wore masks and forcibly put him inside a Toyota Vigo. 

The matter of his recovery is subjudice in a case filed at Lahore High Court (LHC). The Chief Justice of the LHC Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti is listening to the case. During a hearing on 22 May 2023, the police chief of Punjab, Usman Anwar appeared clueless about the missing journalists whereabouts and asked for more time from the court to locate him. In another court hearing, Anwer said that no police station in Pakistan has Imran Riaz in their custody further stating that “No one has Imran Riaz (...) Imran Riaz Khan was not wanted by us. However, ‘agencies’ had asked for a police van. Why they had asked for a police van, [the court] can summon the agencies and ask.” The agencies here being a euphemism for Pakistan's intelligence apparatus.

On 27 May 2023, Daniel Bastard of the France-based global watchdog Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, said in a statement that it had received information from diplomatic sources that the missing journalist was tortured by in the custody of Pakistan's military intelligence agencies and may even have died in detention.

On 30 May 2023, Usman Anwar claimed in court that Afghan SIMs were used by Imran Riaz's abductors and that the police was unable to trace them. Anwer also informed the court that a special working group was established by Punjab Police to recover the missing journalist.

References 

Living people
Pakistani television journalists
Pakistani YouTubers
News YouTubers
1975 births
Crime journalists
Pakistani male journalists
Pakistani television talk show hosts
Pakistani investigative journalists
Missing person cases in Pakistan
Enforced_disappearances_in_Pakistan