Daily Times

LAHORE: Shahbaz Taseer, the son of slain former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer who was recovered after being held by kidnappers for over four years, arrived home on Wednesday to unite with his family.

Taseer was flown to Lahore in a special aircraft by intelligence officials, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). In the photographs shared by ISPR DG Asim Bajwa on Wednesday, Shahbaz had changed from the previous nights shalwar kameez into jeans and a polo shirt. In the second photo, Shahbaz smiles as he points towards the camera and his beard appears to have been trimmed. Balochistan Inspector General Ahsan Mehboob said on Tuesday that Shahbaz was recovered from Saleem hotel on the outskirts of Kuchlak town.

“Security personnel found a man with overgrown beard and long hair, who identified himself as Shahbaz, son of Salmaan Taseer,” a senior security official, who was part of the team that recovered him, said. After his recovery, Shahbaz was shifted to Quetta. Anwar Kakar, a spokesperson for the Balochistan government, said Shahbaz was found to be in good health, physically and mentally. He was then shifted to the Combined Military Hospital in Quetta for a complete medical check-up.

Taseer was abducted in August 2011, eight month after his father, secular Gov. Salmaan Taseer, was assassinated in Islamabad by his guard, Mumtaz Qadri, over accusations of blasphemy. Qadri was convicted of the killing and hanged last week in a prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.