Sheikh Rasheed says Afghan envoy's daughter was using internet throughout her journey

RAWALPINDI: Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed said on Tuesday that the daughter of Afghanistan’s envoy was using internet throughout her journey.

“According to our investigation, the incident involving the daughter of the Afghan ambassador is not a case of kidnapping,” said the interior minister in a press conference. He also lamented that Kabul should not have recalled its envoy over a single case.

“The government will fight the case of the daughter of the Afghan ambassador [but] our investigation shows that this was not a kidnapping case,” said Rasheed. He added that the girl changed taxis four times and no man sat in any of the taxis during her journey.

The interior minister hoped that the Afghan ambassador would become part of the investigation, adding that the government registered the case itself.

“Everyone’s daughters are equal, it would have been appropriate if the Afghan ambassador had not gone back,” said the minister. He also added that his ministry has given the footage related to the case to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Rasheed said that the envoy’s daughter used the internet throughout her journey, adding that the men accused of the kidnapping were hard-working taxi drivers.

He said police have reviewed over 7 hundred hours of footage of 300 cameras installed on the travelling route of the Afghan ambassador's daughter while interviewed over 200 citizens. He said that all four taxi drivers have no criminal record.

Reports of the ambassador's daughter being "abducted" and "tortured" surfaced on Saturday, with a statement by the Afghan foreign ministry saying that the girl was "abducted for several hours" on Friday.

The Foreign Office issued a statement in response saying that a thorough probe has been launched and law enforcement agencies "are trying to trace and apprehend the culprits to be brought to justice".

In the meanwhile, the security for the ambassador and his family was "beefed up", according to the statement.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had instructed the interior minister to get to the bottom of the matter within 48 hours.

However, the Afghan government recalled its ambassador and senior diplomats from Islamabad citing security concerns.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, in a telephonic discussion with his Afghan counterpart on Monday, shared the progress in the kidnapping case and urged him to withdraw the decision to recall the ambassador.

Investigation completed in Dasu incident

The minister also said that the law enforcement agencies have completed their investigation in the Dasu incident in which at least nine Chinese workers were killed.

The Chinese government has expressed satisfaction over the investigation being carried out by Pakistan to find out the culprits, Sheikh Rasheed said.

“There are attempts being made to create misunderstanding between Pakistan and China,” said the minister. He added that the incident was carried out precisely for this reason.

On July 14, a bus carrying workers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Upper Kohistan plunged into a ravine "after a mechanical failure resulting in leakage of gas that caused a blast", a statement from the Foreign Office had said.

According to the statement, Chinese workers and accompanying Pakistani staff "were proceeding to their workplace for an ongoing project".

The accident resulted in the death of 12 people, including nine Chinese nationals.