A poet from PoK was arrested for writing a poem in protest, the court ordered him to be produced

Farhad, famous for his rebellious poems, was kidnapped from his home. Earlier on Wednesday, Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan informed the High Court that the poet has been arrested and is in the custody of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) police.

A top Pakistani court on Friday rejected a plea to close the case of Kashmiri poet Ahmad Farhad's recovery and directed authorities to first produce him before it. Farhad went missing from Rawalpindi on May 14, a day after his wife Urooj Zainab filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to trace him.

Farhad, famous for his rebellious poems, was kidnapped from his home. Earlier on Wednesday, Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan informed the High Court that the poet has been arrested and is in the custody of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) police.

Farhad writes rebellious poetry

Police in the PoK region said the poet was in their custody and a case had been registered against him in the Dhirkot area. On Friday, IHC Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani heard the case in the presence of Zainab's lawyers.

Additional Attorney General Munavwar Iqbal, who appeared to represent the government in the hearing, told the court that the poet is on remand till June 2 and the poet's family has been allowed to meet him. Iqbal then urged the court to end the case of illegal imprisonment.

The police arrested the poet

However, Farhad's lawyer argued that the poet's family had gone to the Dhirkot police station in PoK, but he was not found there. Later, the family was informed that the poet had been taken to Muzaffarabad for investigation.

Justice Kayani, after hearing the arguments, rejected the plea to close the case and said that the case would be closed the day Farhad was produced in court. Later, the court adjourned the hearing till June 7.

Ahmed Farhad Shah's wife Saeeda Urooj Zainab had said in a petition filed in the court that her husband has been under "pressure from government agencies" for several months as they want a 'historic verdict'. She alleged that 38-year-old Shah, who has roots in PoK's Bagh district, was abducted by the ISI from his home in the garrison city of Rawalpindi on May 15 because of his anti-government stance.