Retired army officer goes missing in Nepal

Foreign office has raised the issue with the Nepali government

An ex-army man who went to Nepal for a job interview earlier this week has gone missing, Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria confirmed on Saturday.

“Foreign Office is in contact with Pakistan Embassy in Khatmandu and also have established contacts with Nepalese authorities.” Radio Pakistan quoted Zakaria as saying.

Lt Col (retd) Muhammad Habib Zahir retired from service in October 2014 and had been working at Rafhan Mills in Faisalabad. Zahir had posted his resume on job portal LinkedIn and on the UN website. A month ago, a man named Mark Thomson contacted the ex-army officer through email and from a UK phone number claiming Zahir had been shortlisted for the job of vice president/zonal director with a salary package of USD3,500-8,500 per month and asked him to come to Kathmandu, Nepal for an interview on April 6.



Zahir was sent a business class ticket for April 5 to Kathmandu via Oman. According to the initial investigation, a man named Javed Ansari received him at Oman and provided him a Nepali cell phone number.

Sources said the former officer then arrived in Kathmandu on April 6 and on the same day he left for Lumbini, a town five kilometres away from the Indian border, via a Buddha Air flight. He texted his wife at 1pm informing her he had safely landed in Lumbini.

However, has not been heard from since then. Both his Pakistani and Nepali numbers are switched off. Zahir’s family has lodged an FIR.