Islamabad: Police have filed a case against prominent Pakistani TV anchor Dr Shahid Masoud, after a reporter accused him of making threats and snatching his cellphone.

Masoud, who is already facing charges of corruption stemming from his tenure as managing director of the state-run TV channel in 2008, has been booked in yet another case after Noorul Ameen, a reporter with the Samaa TV channel, approached the Ramna police station with the complaint that the anchor threatened him with dire consequences when he tried to record his views after a hearing at the Islamabad High Court.

According to the First Information Report, Masoud had appeared before the court on October 29, 2018 seeking bail.

A previous bail application he made had been turned down a few days earlier by a special court of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), forcing him to flee the court.

It was when he was returning from the High Court, after being granted interim bail, that the alleged incident with the reporter took place.

According to the complaint, the journalist approached Masoud and asked what had made him approach the High Court, when he had fled the trial court after rejection of bail.

“I introduced myself as a reporter and tried to record his views with my cellphone but this infuriated Dr Shahid Masoud and he not only snatched my mobile phone but also hurled threats of dire consequences on me,” the complainant states.

Later, on the intervention of lawyers, Masoud returned the reporter’s cell phone — but not before deleting the video footage from it, further states the complainant.

According to the TV reporter, the incident took place in front of a number of other reporters and media persons in the parking lot of the court.

On the reporter’s application police after a gap of almost fifteen days registered a case against Masoud and an investigation is ongoing.

After being refused bail by the FIA court on October 25, Masoud appeared before the Islamabad High Court on October 29 and got bail until November 12, 2018. He again got a 10-day extension of the bail until November 23.

The former PTV boss is being investigated for his alleged involvement in the embezzlement of funds worth Rs38 million (Dh140,000).

According to the FIA, Masoud allegedly signed an agreement with a fake company to obtain the media rights for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

According to the FIA, the state-owned television channel suffered a huge loss because of the agreement.