Former adviser to Benazir Bhutto recovered after mysterious disappearance

Mushtaq Bhutto was Benazir's adviser during the Pakistan Peoples Party government in 1994

Law enforcers trying to ascertain if he has been kidnapped or detained by some agency. PHOTO: AFP

KARACHI:
A former adviser to slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto was recovered late Tuesday night, a day after he mysteriously went missing from near his residence in Gulistan-e-Jauhar locality.

Mushtaq Bhutto is a resident of Baseer Apartments in Block 17 in Gulistan-e-Jauhar. According to SHO Raja Tariq, unidentified men dropped Mushtaq near his house, following which they escaped. Police officials are yet to record Mushtaq's statement to probe into the matter.

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Police officials began investigations to ascertain if it was a case of kidnapping or some agency had taken him into custody. However, the police failed to trace him.

Upon Mushtaq's mysterious disappearance, the claimed that Mushtaq was standing near his house when unidentified persons came in a SUV and took him away with them at gunpoint. "So far, no one made a ransom call," said a family member. "We are trying to understand if he has been kidnapped or any agency has taken him into custody."

Mushtaq was a close aide of Benazir Bhutto. He was her adviser during the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government in 1994.


The family informed the Sharae Faisal police station about the incident but no case was registered by the police till the evening of Tuesday. Following the complaint, District East SSP Faisal Abdullah and other senior officials of the police visited the PPP missing leader's residence and inquired about the incident, assuring the family that he will soon be recovered.

Unfortunately, Mushtaq is not the first PPP leader who went missing mysteriously in recent days as earlier on Saturday, personnel in civvies detained the former Karachi division president of Peoples Student Federation (PSF), which is Pakistan Peoples Party's student wing, Faisal Shaikh, after a raid at his residence in North Nazimabad locality. The family and the PPP have so far failed to trace the whereabouts of Shaikh.

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Police officials said that they were investigating Mushtaq's case from different angles. "We are trying to ascertain the motive behind the incident," said Sharae Faisal SHO Raja Tariq. "It could be a kidnapping case or it could also be possible that some agency might have taken him into custody."

The officer said that they were also trying to establish links between the disappearances of the two PPP leaders - Faisal Shaikh and Mushtaq Bhutto - as the same group or law enforcement or intelligence agency could be behind both the incidents.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 16th, 2016.

 
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