ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani military officer, who was reportedly kidnapped by Indian agencies from Nepal’s Lumbini area, has not been traced and the local police have said that there was no progress in this case.
A senior Nepali police official, SSP Dipak Thapa said that the CCTV footage available with the authorities showed the officer being received by an unknown person at the Gautam Buddha Airport, which is also known as Bhairahawa Airport.
Records show that Lt Col Muhammad Habib Zahir arrived in Kathmandu on 6th April, 2017 and he left Kathmandu airport for Lumbini by Buddah Air. At 1300 on 6th April, 2017 on the same day.
He sent a message from his cell to his wife that he has landed at Lumbini, municipality 5kms away from the Indian border safely.
Since then, his cell numbers (Nepal and Pakistan) are switched off and no trace of him has been found.
We can confirm that the officer reached the Bhairahawa Airport and was received by an unidentified person at the exit gate, Thapa said. ‘He was carrying a backpack as well. The police have shown the footage to the taxi drivers and other transport operators and are trying to ascertain the identity of the person.’
Pakistan informed the Nepal foreign ministry about the officer, who, according to an Indian newspaper was one of the team members that arrested RAW agent Kulbhushan Jhadav from Balochistan.
A spokesperson of Nepal’s Interior Ministry said that they are unaware of the reason behind Col Habib’s visit to Lambini and that there was no reservation in any of the hotels in the area.
