ISLAMABAD, Jan 29: The group which has claimed to have kidnapped a Wall Street Journal reporter, Daniel Pearl, six days ago has eluded the law enforcement agencies, so far.

“It seems to be a fake organisation,” said Brig Javed Cheema, Director-General of the Crisis Management Cell of the Interior Ministry, when asked about the group which calls itself the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty (NMRPS).

“Neither have we heard of any such organisation in the past nor has it ever been known to be active before this incident,” he observed.

He said the joint investigation teams, comprising officials of the federal and provincial law enforcement agencies and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, had found some important clues which might help in early recovery of the kidnapped journalist.

Sources said the Sindh inspector-general police, in a latest update on the case, informed the federal government that investigation teams had found some important clues by tracking down the e-mail source of the kidnappers through the Internet Service Providers.

The NMRPS in e-mail messages dispatched to media organisations claimed to have kidnapped the reporter. The message was sent under the name “kidnapperguy” via Hotmail, Microsoft’s free e-mail service.

Cheema said the authorities were probing the linkages and clues obtained from Al-Furqan organisation and one Chaudhry Bashir of Lahore.

Federal Information Secretary Anwar Mehmood said there were so many questions unanswered about the disappearance of the reporter. “While in Peshawar, Daniel Pearl had ‘mysterious meetings’ with a few person,” he added.

According to interior ministry sources, two teams of investigators, headed by SSPs of the Sindh police department, were collaborating with the FBI officials who reached Pakistan on Monday.

The teams were widening the scope of investigations in Punjab and Balochistan and were in touch with the provincial police departments and agencies, a source said.

The information secretary said President Gen Pervez Musharraf had expressed concern over the disappearance of the reporter and the IGP had been directed to deliver the results at the earliest.

Sources said the search operation for the missing reporter was being monitored by the Chief Executive Secretariat and a number of government agencies were coordinating closely.

The matter was also taken up by US Secretary of State Colin Powell with President Musharraf after Daniel Pearl reportedly disappeared last Wednesday in Karachi while investigating a story about alleged shoe-bomber Richard Reid, a suspect in US custody.