Social media activist, journalist goes missing from Karachi.

KARACHI -- A journalist and social media activist reportedly went missing from the city's Clifton area on Friday, while his friends and family claimed he was picked up by law enforcement agencies from his residence.

Arsalan Ahmed, who has remained associated with channels such as Geo, Abb Tak, Business Plus and A-Plus, is currently working as a freelance journalist and social media activist.

Arsalan's wife Ayesha, in a video statement shared on social media, claimed that '14 to 15 armed RanAgers personnel' entered their house at 4:30am on Friday and held the family at gunpoint.

They took away Arsalan in front of her and their children. She said when she asked where her husband was being taken and for what crime, she was told he was being detained for being vocal on social media. In the video, she urged the institutions concerned to look into the case and help recover her husband.

Family claims Arsalan Khan picked up from home by Rangers; KUJ, Amnesty International slam 'arrest', demand his return

However, SSP Asad Raza told Dawn the police had not detained the activist. So far, Khan's family had not approached them with a complaint, he claimed.

In contrast, Ayesha told Dawn on Friday night that she had visited the Clifton police station to register an abduction case, but the poliAAce refused to lodge the FIR.

Meanwhile, the Karachi Bachao Tehreek (KBT), an alliance of various political and civil society organisations that Khan was a part of, expressed concern over the 'abduction' of their volunteer, and announced a protest against it on Saturday (today).

Khurram Nayar, the KBT convener, told Dawn that Khan was a volunteer with them. He alleged that the personnel of a law enforcement agency took away the activist from his apartment, close to the Russian consulate, in Clifton, at around 4am on Friday.

He alleged Khan's family was also harassed, while the security personnel told his wife that her husband was being detained for being 'too vocal'. They also took away his laptop and mobile phone. The KBT announced a protest on Saturday against the 'enforced disappearance' of the activist.

Speaking at a news conference at the Karachi Press Club on Friday evening, the KBT and other organisations demanded the immediate...