ISLAMABAD, Dec 12: One of the missing nuclear scientists of Khan Research Laboratories, Dr Farooq returned home on Thursday night after a week-long “disappearance,” family sources said on Friday.

He (Dr Farooq) said that he had gone to Karachi on a special official but the family could not confirm whether he was in Karachi or was taken somewhere else, the daughter of Dr Farooq said.

Dr Farooq could not be contacted despite intensive efforts.

“My father is not at home at the moment and he is expected to return late in the night,” she said.

The KRL sources said Dr Farooq was one of the scientists who had closely worked with the KRL’s founder, Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan.

He was awarded top civil awards Hilal-i-Imtiaz and Sitara- i-Imtiaz after Pakistan conducted nuclear tests in 1998.

Family members of Dr Yasin Chauhan, the other missing KRL scientist, said he had not returned home and they did not know about his whereabouts.

Meanwhile, some senior KRL scientists called on chief of the Strategic Planning Division Lt Gen Qidwai, expressing their apprehensions and resentment over disappearances of their colleagues, informed sources said.

They said the SPD’s chief told the scientists that even his department, which served as a supervisory body for the country’s sensitive institutions, was unaware about the incident.

The KRL delegation was assured about provision of “complete security” to nuclear scientists in future, the sources said.

The SPD’s chief said no KRL scientist would be picked up for “debriefing” in future, and if necessary, they would be debriefed in their own offices.

Another KRL source said some other scientists of the institution were also “missing.” However, their number and names could not be ascertained.