Imran Riaz Khan (Punjabi, Urdu: عمران ریاض خان born 14 August 1975, Faisalabad)[1] is a Pakistani journalist, TV anchor and YouTuber.

[16] 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.

"[18] 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".

[11][13][7] Immediately following the arrest, reports[11] showed a wide condemnation of the treatment and expressions of concern stemming from similar ideological grounds favoring free speech,[citation needed] including that of academic and activist Ammar Ali Jan, who warned of the irrationality in "clumsy" uses of force in a "battle of ideas.

[20] He was arrested again on 2 February 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".

[23] 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.

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.

[26] On 27 May 2023, Daniel Bastard of the France-based global watchdog Reporters Without Borders said 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.