ISLAMABAD, Dec 23: Pakistan on Sunday condemned the illegal detention and torture of Mohammad Sharif Khan, a staff member of Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi, by the intelligence operatives of the Indian government on Saturday.

In a statement, a foreign office spokesman said Mr Sharif was shopping in a New Delhi market when he was kidnapped at 5.30pm.

During the interrogation, he was stripped naked, severely beaten up and tortured, resulting in visible and internal injuries, which were also confirmed in the medical report.

Mr Khan was released after five hours, only when his signature had been taken under duress on a statement acknowledging involvement in espionage.

The foreign office had lodged a strong protest with the Indian High Commission in Islamabad over this “reprehensible, provocative and unacceptable action” on the part of the Indian government.

The government of India has been asked to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident and take appropriate action against the culprits.

Earlier, the High Commission of Pakistan in New Delhi had also lodged a protest with the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.

The government of Pakistan, he said, would like to remind the Indian government of its obligations under the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations and the bilateral code of conduct for the treatment of diplomatic/consular personnel agreed between Pakistan and India in 1992.