SP Tahir Khan Dawar laid to rest in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: Martyred Superintendent Police (SP) Tahir Khan Dawar was laid to rest in Peshawar late Thursday, with bereaved relatives, tribal elders and scores of commoners attending his last rites.

The funeral prayers for martyred police officer were offered at Police Lines in Peshawar Thursday evening.

KP Governor Shah Farman, Chief Minister Mehmood Khan, Corps Commander Lt Gen Shaheen Mazhar, State Minister for Interior Shehryar Afridi and Chief Secretary Naveed Kamran Baloch attended the funeral prayers.

IG KP Salahuddin Mehsud, Shehram Tarakai and KP government spokesman Ajmal Wazir, relatives of the martyred police officer and a large number of other people were also among the attendees.

Martyred SP Dawar was laid to rest in the city's Hayatabad graveyard.

Earlier, Afghan officials handed over the body of SP Dawar to a Pakistani delegation.  

The body was received at the Torkham border by a tribal jirga led by Dawar's cousin MNA Mohsin Dawar. State Minister for Interior Shehryar Afridi along with KP Information Minister Shaukat Yousfazi was also present at the border.

Pakistani officials had held talks with officials from Afghanistan after the latter refused to hand over the body. Afghan officials wanted the body to be handed over to MNA Mohsin Dawar or tribal representatives.  

SP Tahir Dawar, who went missing from Islamabad on October 26, was found dead in Nangarhar earlier this week. His martyrdom was confirmed by the Afghan government. 

Pakistan expresses concern over handover of body by 'non-diplomatic procedures'

Foreign Office Spokesman Dr Faisal soon after the funeral prayers tweeted that Pakistan has expressed concern over inordinate delay in handing over remains of SP Dawar and "the fact that the handing over was linked to insistence on non-diplomatic procedures and non-official individuals resulting in avoidable pain" to the officer's family.

Diplomatic and humanitarian norms need to be observed, especially in such circumstances, the foreign office said.

The FO earlier today confirmed the body was brought back to the country by an official delegation who had gone to Afghanistan.

In a press release, the Foreign Office stated that Afghanistan’s chargé d'affaires in Islamabad was summoned twice on Wednesday and again on Thursday afternoon to register Pakistan’s strong protest over the inordinate delay and manner of return of the body. Following written and verbal demarches, an official delegation visited Afghanistan and brought the body back Thursday evening. 

The Foreign Office press release added that following news of SP Dawar’s death on November 13, the ministry and Pakistan Embassy in Kabul had contacted Afghan authorities for confirmation and handing over the body of the deceased to Afghanistan. Pakistan’s Ambassador had requested the Afghanistan government of immediately sending the mortal remains foregoing routine formalities.

The ministry hoped Afghan authorities would fully cooperate in ascertaining the circumstances under which a Pakistani officer was found killed in Afghanistan. 

Murder raises several questions: DG ISPR 

Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor said the brutal murder SP Tahir Dawar in Afghanistan was high condemnable.

In a series of tweets, DG ISPR said SP Tahir Dawar’s abduction, move to Afghanistan and follow up behaviour by Afghan authorities raised questions which indicated the involvement or resources more than that of a terrorist organisation in Afghanistan.

The military spokesman reiterated that while investigations by Pakistani authorities were in process, Afghan security forces should cooperate in border fencing and bilateral border security coordination to deny the use of Afghan territory against Pakistan.

Speaking on the floor of the Senate, State Minister of Interior Shehryar Afridi said SP Dawar was abducted from Islamabad and taken to Mianwali from where he was taken to Bannu and then to Afghanistan.

The minister of state for interior asserted, “Some people want to destabilise Pakistan.”

“We will make an example out of those responsible for SP Dawar’s murder and will make sure the case reaches its logical conclusion whether it is in Pakistan or Afghanistan," Afridi vowed