ISLAMABAD: Indian media claims the custody of Col. Habib and seeks his swap with Kulbhushan Jadhev. The spokesperson of Foreign Ministry, Dr Muhammad Faisal maintained that the engagement of foreign agencies and external factors cannot be ruled out in disappearance of Lieutenant Colonel (r) Habib Zahir.
Dr. Faisal while responding to the media revealed that Col. Habib is a retired Pakistani officer who went missing in Nepal when he paid a visit to appear in a job interview in April 2017. The spokesperson further added that Habib Zahir posted his CV on LinkedIn and the UN website. For which, he received a call to appear in an interview which was to be conducted in Katmandu, Nepal. The company, according to his family, also sent him an air ticket for Lahore-Oman-Kathmandu by Oman Airlines for an interview for the post of Vice President on 6 April 2017.
Notably, the invitation was extended by Mr Mark who was believed to be British. However, upon reaching Katmandu, Habib shared his picture with a boarding pass on WhatsApp with his family. He then left for Lumbini airport. Upon landing, he messaged his wife intimating that he had landed safely.
It is interesting to note that Lumbini is a municipality located merely 5 kilometers away from the Indian border. Right after his message, his family found his number to be switched off and they lost the contact with him.
According to the spokesperson, investigations revealed that the UK number of Mr. Mark, with which he was contacted, was fake and basically computer-generated. Moreover, the website that offered the job to Habib was administered from India. And by the time of investigations, it was taken down.
It was further revealed that the government of Nepal has formulated special teams to look into this matter, but no substantial progress has been made yet. Coupled with, Pakistan has repeatedly requested to Indian authorities to assist in Habib’s recovery. However, no response has been received till the date.
The spokesperson went on to say that his family even approached the UN Working Group on Enforced Involuntary Disappearances in Geneva for assistance in locating him.
“The government continues to make all-out efforts to locate him and shall not rest until he is home,” he added.
The Foreign Office took exception to reports in the Indian media that there were plans to exchange convicted Indian spy Kulbhushan Jhadav with the missing Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Habib of the Pakistan army, reported a private source.