Washington, Jul 21 (PTI) A group of pro-democracy Pakistani intellectuals and activists on Tuesday accused the country's powerful military establishment of abducting a prominent journalist over his criticism of the army and the judiciary.

The South Asians Against Terrorism and for Human Rights (SAATH) strongly condemned the abduction of Pakistani journalist Matiullah Jan from Islamabad.

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In a statement, it endorsed the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists and the change.org petition that sought immediate measures for the safe release of Jan.

Jan was abducted on Tuesday morning from outside the school where his wife teaches. The footage from the school CCTV showed that armed men forcefully took him out of his car and beat him before taking him away.

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"This is a known modus operandi of Pakistani intelligence agencies and the same has been observed and reported in many previous abductions of those critical of Pakistani military,” SAATH said.

"We at SAATH forum are deeply concerned at increasing attempts to silence the media and suppress independent voices by such abductions," it added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)