ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Human Rights Riaz Pirzada claimed that some of the “missing persons” had been “engaged” by detained Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav or by neighbouring countries.

The minister made the claim during an exclusive interview with DawnNews aired on Sunday night.

“Some of these (missing persons) have been killed in terrorist activities ..... who were engaged by Kulbhushan Jadhav or neighbouring countries,” he revealed.

He went on saying that the Indian spy, who had been facing trial in Pakistan, had exploited the poor people.

“Normally poor people are engaged and lured to money,” he maintained.

According to the minister, some missing persons had taken asylum in the neighbouring countries.

Mr Pirzada defended security forces’ actions against the “missing persons”. He said security forces swung into action after terrorist incidents in Quetta.

“There has been criticism when the state forces take actions. People start protesting and missing persons issue surfaced,” he added.

Mr Pirzada was of the view that intelligence agencies, including ISI and MI, should deal with the issue of the missing persons instead of a commission.

In response to a query, he said President Arif Alvi, former PM Imran Khan and ex-speaker of the National Assembly Asad Qaiser should be tried under Article 6.

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2022