Pakistan: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chief minister goes missing; supporters blame Centre

The mystery around the sudden disappearance of Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur deepened Sunday after Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that he was not in the custody of any federal institution.

Gandapur went incommunicado on Saturday evening from the KP House, his official residence in the national capital, where he had gone to rest after leading a protest caravan of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf from the province to Islamabad.

Naqvi said that the government was unaware of the whereabouts of the chief minister, who, in his words, escaped from the KP House before police reached there.

"I can confirm that he is not in the custody of any institution of the government," he told the media after offering a funeral prayer for a police official who died due to injuries sustained in clashes on Saturday.

The minister said that the police were looking for the chief minister, who is said to be hiding at some unknown place.

"Police have also raided a few places but could not find him,” he said, adding that he had got pictures of the chief minister escaping from the KP House before the arrival of police and other law enforcement agencies.

The categorical claim that Gandapur was not in official custody has further deepened the mystery of his sudden disappearance.

According to KP government spokesman Muhammad Ali Saif, the provincial government and the chief minister's family were unable to contact him.

The KP government Sunday approached the Peshawar High Court against the disappearance of Gandapur, Geo News reported.

KP Advocate General Shah Faisal said that a writ petition had been prepared and the court would be requested to take it up today.

On the other hand, talking to Geo News, the chief minister's brother Faisal Amin Gandapur said that he could not establish contact with his brother since last night.

Earlier, KP Chief Minister's Adviser on Information Barrister Saif said that Gandapur had been "incommunicado" since Saturday night.

Speaking to Geo News, the official confirmed that the whereabouts of the KP CM were unknown and his family could not reach him.

He held the Centre responsible for his disappearance.

Meanwhile, the governor said Gandapur had gone into self-imposed hiding since Saturday.

"Ali Amin is playing on both sides of the wicket,” he said, adding that an emergency session of the KP Assembly had been convened over the matter of Gandapur’s hiding.

Pointing towards the alleged participation of Afghan nationals in the political party's protest rally, Kundi said it was the most frightening thing that terrorists were brought in by the PTI for the protest.

Meanwhile, the situation in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi improved after two consecutive days of unrest. There was no sign of any protests and most of the roadblocks had been removed to ease traffic.

The mobile phone service has also been restored in the two cities which had been suspended on Friday.

But the PTI has not officially called off its protest and it was not clear if hundreds of protestors who came from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa went back or not.