PESHAWAR, Jan 22: An operation for the recovery of missing Punjab Minister Naeemullah Shahani is expected to begin soon in the tribal areas along the Bannu Frontier Region.

The brothers and other relatives of the minister have been in Bannu for the last few days and have met MNA Maulana Syed Nasib Ali Shah and elders of the area. Dozens of teams of district and political administration, police and intelligence agencies have been dispatched to the suspected places.

Checkpoints have been set up on all the important routes. The political administration in the North and South Waziristan agencies has failed to find the minister, who has been missing for 17 days.-APP