Pakistan fears enemy agencies behind disappearance of ex-army officer

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GEO NEWS
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ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday said that it suspects an enemy spy agency is behind the kidnapping of Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Muhammad Habib Zahir.

"We have brought Lt. Col (r) Zahir's case to the Nepali government's attention," FO spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said. "The Indian prime minister admitted that the country was involved in dividing Pakistan in 1971."

Read more: New details emerge regarding missing retired army officer

Zahir went to Nepal in pursuit of employment, according to his family. He left for Nepal on April 5 and reached the country’s capital, Kathmandu the next day. Thereon he went to Lumbini, which is located approximately six kilometres from the Indian border.

He contacted his family last on April 6 and could not be reached after, the ex-serviceman's family revealed.

The ex-army officer flew to Kathmandu via Muscat in flight number WY-344, a Geo New correspondent said.



A first information report (FIR) registered by the missing man's son, Saad Habib, says that Lt. Col (r) Zahir was received by a man named Javaid Ansari at the airport in Kathmandu on April 6.

The FO, in its weekly new brief, said that Kulbhushan Jadhav’s activities were irrefutable proof of Indian involvement in Pakistan.

Read more: Pakistan has sufficient evidence against Jadhav

Pakistan sentenced an Indian RAW agent Kulbhushan Jadhav to death for carrying out espionage and sabotage activities in Balochistan and Karachi, the ISPR said Monday.

Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa confirmed the death sentence awarded by the Field General Court Martial (FGCM) under the Pakistan Army Act (PAA).

According to an ISPR press release, Kulbhusan Sundir Jadhav alias Hussein Mubarak Patel was arrested on March 3, 2016, through a Counter-Intelligence Operation from Mashkel area of Balochistan for his involvement in espionage and sabotage actives in Pakistan. 

Read more: FO announces Pakistan's inclusion in Saudi military alliance

The FO spokesman also talked about Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir, stating that 12 innocent Kashmiris were martyred by occupation forces in the past week. 

Earlier on April 11, former chief minister of Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) and National Conference chief Dr Farooq Abdullah urged India to think of a political, not military, solution to the Kashmir dispute before it loses the valley.

Read more: Former CM IOK warning to India

In a recent interview with the Indian media, Abdullah said the violence and loss of lives during the Srinagar by-poll "are a tragedy and a failure of the government of the day."

The former chief minister, who is contesting the state by-elections from Srinagar, lamented that the Indian government had failed to provide security to the people of IoK.