Pakistan: Two missing Indian clerics traced, set to return on Monday

According to Pakistani media reports, both clerics had been in 'interior Sindh where there was no communication network'.

Karachi/New Delhi, Mar 18: The two missing Indian clerics of Delhi's Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah have been 'traced and have reached Karachi', Pakistan on Friday conveyed to India.

"Pakistan Foreign Office has confirmed that the two Indian clerics have been traced and reached Karachi," a source said in New Delhi.

The confirmation came after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj spoke to Pakistan Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, regarding the case. Aziz is in London currently.

The two missing Indian clerics -- Syed Asif Nizami, the head priest (Sajjadanashin) of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia Dargah, and and his nephew Nazim Nizami -- reached Karachi this evening.

According to Pakistani media reports, both clerics had been in 'interior Sindh where there was no communication network' and that is why they could not tell their relatives about there whereabouts. They will leave for India on March 20.

Earlier in the day, Pakistani sources had said the two clerics were in the custody of Pakistan's intelligence agency over their alleged links with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. They were offloaded from Karachi-bound Shaheen Airlines on March 14 at the Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore, the Pakistani sources said.

"The personnel of an intelligence took both the clerics into custody after getting them offloaded and shifted them to an undisclosed location for investigation," a source had said.

They further said both clerics had been detained for their alleged links with Altaf Hussain's MQM.

PTI