October 2017
Oct 1: Elite Police beat up local Geo TV cameraman Hasnain Qureshi in Dera Ismail Khan city. He was detained for hours before freeing him at an undisclosed location.  
Oct 3: Channel 7 reporter Usman Mughal comes under attack after his story on drug sellers in Rawalpindi. Freedom Network Safety Hub manager is facilitating registration of FIR against the attackers.
Oct 4: Tauseef Khan, working for state-run news agency Associated Press of Pakistan, was beaten up by supporters of ruling Pakistan Muslim League (N) while covering the party’s programme at Aiwan-e-Iqbal in Lahore.
Oct 4: The media team of STAR Asia, a local news channel in Lahore, was detained after beating up by family of Railways Police SSP Yamin.
Oct 7: Police in Kohlu make journalists subject to violence after filming protesters. Local journalists closed down press club to protest the police behavior.
Oct 8: Journalists go on pen-down strike and close press club in Kohlu district of Balochistan to protest “highhandedness” of police and other authorities.
Oct 9: Banned insurgent group “Baloch Liberation Front” phones Quetta Press Club president Razaur Rehman to warn media against “ignoring” Balochistan and announces ban on distribution of newspapers and magazines across the province after October 24.
Oct 12: Journalist Haroon Khan is shot daed in Swabi district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province over what his brother said “land dispute.” He worked for Mashriq Radio.
Oct 15: Masked gunmen abduct Mashaal Radio correspondent Shahnawaz Tarakzai from media centre in Shabqadar town of Charsadda district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Oct 15: Tribal journalist Islam Gul Afridi is reported missing after his last call to his editor on October 14, 2017, that he “received a phone call from unknown number” requesting meeting.
Oct 16: Tribal journalists Shahnawaz Tarakzai and Islam Gul Afridi return home after they are set free in Peshawar, families confirm.
Oct 19: FIA registers case against two social media team members of Pakistan Muslim League (N) for comments critical of judiciary and army. http://www.bbc.com/urdu/pakistan-41702166
Oct 21: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif condemns what he calls “harassment” of Pakistan Muslim League (N) social media team members who were booked under cybercrimes law for comments against military and judiciary. https://www.dawn.com/news/1365289/nawaz-sharif-demands-recovery-of-social-media-activists
Oct 24: Federal Interior Minister Ehsan Iqbal said in Islamabad that his government plans formulate a framework to monitor social media in order to prevent it from being used as a tool to malign national institutions and spread anarchy or extremism in the country. https://www.dawn.com/news/1366130/govt-to-monitor-social-media-says-interior-minister
Oct 24: Transporters decline to take newspapers for distribution in Baloch areas of Balochistan after deadline by two outlawed Baloch insurgent groups expire on October 24.
Oct 24: Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) expressed deep concerns at state of Press Freedom in Balochistan where it believes “pressures from different forces and groups on newspapers mount.”
Oct 25: Hand-grenade was lobbed at building of press club in Hub district in Balochistan and banned militant group ‘Balochistan Liberation Front’ claimed responsibility in statement posted on its website. The press club building slightly damaged and no loss of journalist was reported.
Oct 25: Newspaper distribution was halted in Quetta and Baloch areas of Balochistan after transporters declined to transport newspapers after deadline set by two Baloch insurgent groups passed without meeting their demands.
Oct 26: Hand-grenade was lobbed at Pak News Agency’s office in Turbat district of Balochistan injuring eight, including a staffer of the agency.
Oct 26: Baloch insurgents opened fire on a vehicle carrying newspapers in Awaran area in Balochistan, bursting all tyres of the vehicle with gunshots and torched the newspapers.
Oct 27: Unknown motorcyclists intercept investigative journalist Ahmed Noorani of The News International newspaper in Islamabad at Zero Point and made him subject to severe torture leaving him with 10 stitches in his head.