Pakistani Youtuber Khosa abducted by intelligence agencies released: Lawyer

Lahore: Pakistani YouTuber and comedian Aun Ali Khosa, who was allegedly abducted by intelligence agencies last week for singing a song critical of the Shehbaz Sharif government and its backers, has returned home in Punjab province, his lawyer said on Monday.

Khosa was among the three other social media activists of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party who had recently been picked up allegedly by intelligence agencies.

The other two people were Naeem Ahmad Yasin and Arsalan Akbar. Their families have declared them "missing persons".

The Sharif-led government and the establishment were facing scathing criticism on social media for "abducting" Aun Khosa for singing a parody song on soaring electricity bills.

Days before his abduction, Khosa had sung a song, Bill Bill Pakistan, a parody of the famous Pakistani song Dil Dil Pakistan and released a video on social media criticising the high prices of electricity and extra taxes added to it.

Khosa also took on the worthlessness of the Pakistani passport and the cash-strapped country's loans. The comedian has a following of 137,000 on YouTube.

On Monday, Khosa's lawyer, Advocate Khadija Siddiqi, said on X: “Aun Ali Khosa has been released! He has reached home! Criticising the recurring cases of abductions, she said, “Over the last two months, we have fought all missing persons cases, including Aun's, at the Lahore High Court.” She said that the kidnappers have the same modus operandi; they come in the dark of the night at 2 or 3 am, break down the door, and there are about a dozen men with masks on their faces, carrying weapons.

They take away mobile phones and laptops, and if there’s a CCTV installed, they remove it. They harass the victim and take him away.

"Then, when the high court’s ruling comes, they return the victim to his house in the dark of the night," Siddiqui said, adding that the practice of abduction of citizens should come to an end.

"If someone has violated the law, bring them to court and prosecute them there," she said.

Earlier, the Lahore High Court (LHC) directed the Punjab police chief to recover Khosa by August 20 and to recover missing PTI activist Arsalan Akbar by August 28.

The PTI has expressed concern over the recent ‘forced disappearances’ of its political workers.

Two brothers of PTI former social media head Azhar Mashwani – Professors Mazhar-ul-Hassan and Zahoor-ul-Hassan – as well as party founder Khan's close aide Shahbaz Gill’s brother Ghulam Shabbir have been missing since June last.

Amnesty International has also demanded the Pakistan government to immediately disclose the whereabouts of missing persons and ensure an effective, independent, and impartial investigation into these disappearances."