No confirmation of missing officer's alleged death until body recovered: KP info minister

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GEO NEWS
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KARACHI/PESHAWAR: Nothing can be said for certain about Tahir Khan Dawar, a superintendent of police (SP) from Peshawar who went missing in Islamabad last month, until his dead body is recovered, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) information minister said on Tuesday night.

Addressing the reports of Dawar's alleged killing circulating in mainstream and social media, Shaukat Yousufzai, the minister of information for KP, told media personnel that there was no confirmation of his death.

Yousufzai said he had received the news of the police officer's alleged killing Tuesday evening and that there was no substantial progress due to nighttime.

Noting that Pakistan reached out to the government of Afghanistan, he stated that the situation would become clearer today (Wednesday).

Earlier in the day, Salahuddin Mehsud, the inspector-general of police (IG) for KP had said it was not possible to confirm the veracity of the reports at present but mentioned that they were in touch with the Afghan government through concerned departments.

An official statement, in case there was any confirmation, would be issued accordingly, Mehsud had added.

The federal government had also said they had no confirmation regarding the reports of Dawar's alleged killing after speculation mounted over the fate of the missing officer when pictures of a dead body recovered from Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, purportedly his, started circulating on social media.

When asked by reporters today, Shehryar Afridi, the state minister for interior, had declined to comment over the authenticity of the reports, saying it was a sensitive matter.

"It is a matter of national security and someone's life, and cannot be discussed on an open forum," Afridi had said, adding that the government was seriously pursuing the cases of individuals whose loved ones have been missing.

Hoping that Dawar had not met a similar fate, the minister had said Pakistan was experiencing a fifth-generation cyberwar. Edited and retouched pictures and "fake news are being spread nowadays", he had added.