FIA raids at Shahid Masood residence, fails to arrest

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) failed to arrest anchorperson Shahid Masood, who is absconding in PTV Corruption case worth around Rs 33 million.

FIA raided Masood’s Islamabad residence in sector F7, after getting information that his vehicle arrived at the house, however, it turned out later that driver of Masood was driving the car, who had come to leave the vehicle there.

Masood fled a local court in Islamabad on Thursday after it turned down his bail plea in PTV corruption case. During the proceedings, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had opposed Masood’s pre-arrest bail. Special judge central Kamran Basharat Mufti had then read the verdict, denying bail to Masood.

But the anchor had fled from the court before the decision was announced.

Earlier in month of March,  the apex court slapped a three-month-long ban on anchorperson Dr Shahid Masood’s TV talk show, as his claims proved wrong in Zainab case.

Headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, a bench of the Supreme Court, gave this order while hearing a case pertaining to the anchorperson’s claims about the convicted murderer and rapist of Kasur’s little Zainab.

The bench debarred Shahid Masood from hosting a news programme for a period of three months following a probe found his startling claims false and baseless.

The chief justice remarked that the anchor in a loud voice had said he should be hanged if his claims proved wrong.

When Justice Nisar asked him to suggest a punishment for himself, he tendered an unconditional apology and suggested his programme should be ordered to remain off the air for a month.

Subsequently, the bench directed him to submit a written apology and ordered him to stay off the air for three months.

Masood had claimed the murderer of Zainab, Imran Ali, owned foreign currency accounts and an organized gang was behind him.

He went on to claim that a highly influential political figure was either backing or involved in the child pornography racket working in Kasur, a group which had been making unethical videos of children and then uploading them on dark web.