The son of slain former Punjab governor Salman Taseer, Shahbaz Taseer, was recovered by Pakistan’s security and intelligence forces from Baluchistan’s Kuchlak area on Tuesday, almost five years after his abduction in 2011.
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The Pakistani military said in a statement that Taseer was found around Kuchlak, a town in western Pakistan in Balochistan province.
Taseer was abducted in August 2011, eight month after his father, secular Gov. Salman Taseer, was assassinated in Islamabad by his guard, Mumtaz Qadri, over accusations of blasphemy.
The Balochistan Frontier Corps, the government paramilitary group behind the operation, tweeted to announce that Mr Taseer had been safely recovered.
Shahbaz Taseer is in “feeble” health, said Aitzaz Goraya, head of the Counter-Terrorism Department of southwestern Balochistan province, where officials said he was found after a police raid.
During his custody, Taseer was moved between locations in the tribal areas and militant outfits, according to multiple rebel commanders.
Sporting a freshly-trimmed beard, Shahbaz Taseer appeared healthy as relatives greeted him at the airport just over a week after his father’s Islamist killer was hanged.
He is expected to be reunited with his family in Lahore on Wednesday.
There was no comment from Shahbaz Taseer’s immediate family at the time of writing.
It is also pertinent to note here that Shahbaz Taseer’s recovery comes a week after his father Salman Taseer’s assassin was hanged to death at Rawalpindi’s Adiyala prison. “We must praise him”, he said.
They left for their home under tight security.
The Pakistani Taliban “are a group of mercenaries with clear links to organised crime”, he said.
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A second militant source said the Taliban had been demanding up to two billion rupees ($20 million) for Taseer’s release. “I think he was able to borrow someone’s phone and send out a message”, the owner added.
