The kidnapped son of a Pakistani governor who was murdered for criticising blasphemy laws was freed on Tuesday, a week after his father’s killer was executed, authorities said.
The kidnapped son of a Pakistani governor who was murdered for criticising blasphemy laws was freed on Tuesday, a week after his father’s killer was executed, authorities said.
Shahbaz Taseer, in his 30s, had been missing for more than four years since he was abducted from his car in Lahore, just months after his father, Punjab governor Salman Taseer, was killed in 2011.
The Pakistani Army said Shahbaz had been rescued by intelligence agents in the south- western province of Baluchistan. Provincial officials confirmed the news.
“Mr Taseer has been safely recovered. He is appearing in good health and is in police custody,” Baluchistan government spokesperson Anwar ul Haq Kakar said on Geo TV.
Last week, Salman Taseer’s former bodyguard, Mumtaz Qadri, was hanged for the murder. The killer’s funeral attracted tens of thousands of supporters who proclaimed him a hero for defending Islam.
On Monday a suicide bombing killed at least 10 people near a court, an attack the Pakistani Taliban’s Jamaat-ur-Ahrar faction said it had committed to avenge Qadri’s execution.
Salman Taseer had spoken in support of a Christian woman who was sentenced to death for blasphemy and had called for the laws that mandate the death penalty for insulting Islam to be revised.
After his death, Taseer’s family received multiple threats from religious hard-liners.
