- ‘Nepal is no more a safe tourist resort’
There is no breakthrough in the investigation of the abduction of Habib Zahir, a retired lieutenant colonel of the Pakistan Army from the Nepalese border town of Lumbini, despite one month time.
It seems neither the Nepalese government has shared anything with Pakistan nor the United Nations working group on enforced or involuntary disappearances has done anything in this regard. Habib’s abduction is not the first case involving Pakistan.
In his book, a former Indian police chief has confirmed that Ajmal Kasab – who was falsely implicated in Mumbai attacks – had been abducted by RAW from Kathmandu in 2006. Rampant abductions of the foreigners from the Nepalese territory by Indian intelligence suggests that Nepal is no more a safe tourist resort and anybody could be abducted or killed by Indian sleuths at will.
This is a very bad news for Nepal which is a tourist resort and tourism is the backbone of its economy. But the mysterious abduction of Col Habib is not the last challenge for the Nepalese investigators who have also failed to share any investigation into the targeting of another official of Pakistan Embassy in the heart of Kathmandu in year 2011.
Asif Mehboob, who worked at the consular affairs section of the embassy in Nepal’s capital, was targeted around 100 yards away from the embassy gate, in a daylight attack. The attackers pumped in six bullets into Asif’s body who fortunately survived the attack. Pakistan is yet to receive any information about the attackers till date.
Soon after the abduction of Col Habib, the Pakistan Embassy had brought the abduction of the retired army officer to notice of the Nepal government the same day while the family of the abductee had also lodged a formal case with the UN working group. However, no headway is made into the investigation.
Saad Habib, son of Col Habib Zahir, said that nothing had been shared with his family about whereabouts of his father. He said that he had received his father’s last phone call from Kathmandu on April 6 and that a person named Javaid Ansari had received him at the airport. After reaching Lumbini, he said that his father’s telephone went dead.
Saad said that the agony for the family was beyond imagination. “I can’t share with you the pain and suffering my family is passing through,” he added. Background discussions with the Nepalese and Pakistani officials have revealed that nothing has yet been shared with Pakistan in this regard.
Col Habib had been abducted by Indian spooks from Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautama Buddha on April 6. Later, the investigations revealed the Pakistani citizen had been taken into India by Indian agents and their facilitators.
Pakistan’s acting Ambassador in Nepal Javed Ahmed Umrani told Pakistan Today here at the Pakistani Embassy that the embassy had received the information about abduction of Col Habib Zahir on April 6 evening.
“We contacted local authorities the same day and registered complaint to local tourism police on April 7. Since then, we have been engaged with various departments of Nepal government but they have yet not informed anything formally what happened to Col Habib Zahir. Whatever we have been updated is through media reports,” he said.
Asked if the embassy had information whether Indian intelligence agents had abducted Habib Zahir, the diplomat said that he could not comment on media reports. Asked whether the Nepal was not cooperating with Pakistan for investigations into the abduction, Umrani said that the government was fully cooperating with the embassy.
“Whatever information we had gathered from various sources, we have shared with the Nepalese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But we are yet to receive any information about investigation officially,” he said. He also said that the relationship between Pakistan and Nepal has been fraction-less and hence Islamabad expected Kathmandu to recover Col Habib.
Despite repeated requests with the officials of Nepal, no official was available for on the record comment. However, the investigators have conveyed to Pakistan Today that Nepal terms Col Habib’s mysterious disappearance as a classic case of entrapment by Indian sleuths whose government literally treats Nepal as its periphery.
According to investigations, Col Habib Zahir was received by an Indian national Dolly Ranchel at the Gautama Buddha Airport on April 6 at 1:30pm. Later, the duo left the airport at around 1:45pm in a white Suzuki car which neither carried Nepalese number-plate nor has ever been seen since that day.
The last signal received from Habib Zahir’s cellular phone was at the tower near Maya Devi Temple (Budha’s birthplace) at 2:45pm, the investigations have revealed. Unlike his other colleagues, who were based in Nepal and were a part of the network, Dolly Ranchel had arrived at Lumbini on April 4 from India.
“We believe Dolly Ranchel is the prime suspect in this case. The footages of CCTV cameras have proved that Col Habib Zahir had arrived Kathmandu and later the same day he arrived Lumbini airport. But there are no traces once he left the airport,” an official said requesting not being named.
Asked whether the investigation had proved what happened to Habib Zahir after arriving Lumbini, the official refused to comment further, saying that Pakistan had already been informed of the fact that Habib Zahir was no more in Nepalese territory. This abduction is a test case for the Nepalese government.
