LAHORE, Aug 9: A former federal minorities minister was found murdered on Tuesday three days after he went missing from the Defence Housing Society. Derek Cyprian, 57, had served as federal minorities minister in 1999. He continued to serve as the minister until the PML formed its government.

Police said that the body of Mr Cyprian was found in a drain in Manga Mandi. His hands and legs were tied and he seemed to have been strangled, the police added.

All Pakistan Minorities Alliance Chairman Shahbaz Bhatti condemned the murder, and asked the government to set up an independent commission to probe into the incident.

“It (the murder) has sent a wave of insecurity among minorities.”

Hina Cyprian, a daughter of the deceased, lodged an abduction case on Monday. She told the police that her father had left his house in Shadab Colony on Ferozepur Road for a bank in the Defence Housing Society on Aug 6. She said she had approached the bank when he did not return until Aug 7.

The bank manager confirmed that he had visited him. He told her that her father had parked his car outside the bank and left with someone in a car.

The body was sent to the city mortuary for autopsy.