Islamabad: A student from Balochistan has been forcibly disappeared in Islamabad after being taken into custody by unidentified individuals, according to fellow students and a classmate who witnessed the incident.
Students claim that Nabeel Arman, a graduate student at the National University of Modern Languages (NUML), was detained on Wednesday evening from an office belonging to his friends in Sector G-7 of the federal capital. They said that he was taken to an undisclosed location and that his whereabouts remain unknown.
According to his classmate, Sanaai Muhammad, several men in plain clothes entered the office and introduced themselves as officials from the CIA, saying they had an inquiry regarding Nabeel. When one of Nabeel’s friends asked about the nature of the inquiry, the men confiscated the mobile phones of Nabeel and his friends. Sanaai claimed that the men then took Nabeel away in a vehicle Vigo.
She further stated that after the incident, they went to a local police station to file a First Information Report (FIR), but police officials refused to register the complaint against the unidentified individuals.
Student organisations have accused Pakistani security forces of being responsible for his detention. However, there has been no official confirmation or statement from authorities regarding the incident.
In a joint statement, fellow students said they would not allow Nabeel Arman to become “another number” in a long list of enforced disappearance cases. They appealed to human rights activists, lawyers, civil society groups and student organisations to raise their voices and demand his safe recovery.
Student groups further said that actions against Baloch students in different parts of the country, including Punjab and the federal capital, have been reported over the years. According to them, several Baloch students studying outside Balochistan have previously gone missing, with some still unaccounted for.
Student organisations have warned that if Nabeel Arman is not recovered immediately, they will launch a broader protest campaign in response to the incident.
