Afghan ambassador's daughter kidnapping case to be solved in 72 hours: Sheikh Rasheed

ISLAMABAD: Federal Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed said the kidnapping case of Afghanistan ambassador's daughter is expected to be solved within 72 hours. 

The interior minister, addressing a news conference Sunday, delved into details of the case. He said that the Afghan ambassador's daughter had left her home on foot and arrived at a market. 

"From the market, she took a taxi to Khadda Market for shopping," he disclosed. "We were able to know about this with the help of the Safe City Cameras," he added. 

The minister said from Khadda Market, the ambassador's daughter took another taxi to Rawalpindi. 

"We also have a footage of her getting out of a taxi at a Rawalpindi shopping mall," he added. 

Rasheed said she then took a third taxi to arrive at Daman-e-Koh. 

"The only gap [in the investigation] that we are facing is that how was she able to arrive at Daman-e-Koh from Rawalpindi," he added. 

The minister said authorities have also interviewed the driver of the third taxi that the ambassador's daughter used to commute, adding that she could have gone straight to F-6 but chose instead, to go to F-9 area in Islamabad. 

Rasheed said the government registered an FIR against the kidnapping at 2:00am in the morning, as per PM Imran Khan's directives. 

The minister said authorities will probe as to how the ambassador's daughter arrived from Rawalpindi to Daman-e-Koh and hopefully by evening today, more missing links of the case can be put together to provide a clearer picture. 

He accused India of playing up the kidnapping of the ambassador's daughter to malign Pakistan.

"We will present the entire, true picture in front of the world," he said, adding that Pakistan's importance in the region has shot up due to PM Khan's popular foreign policy moves. 

"After PM Khan's 'absolutely not' stance received immense popularity both in Pakistan and abroad, India is not letting go of any opportunity to increase its propaganda against Pakistan," he added. 

Dasu blast being jointly-investigated: Rasheed

The minister said that a joint investigation team of experts from China and Pakistan were working on the Dasu blast incident. 

"There are 15 people from their side and 15 from our side [probing the blast]," he said, adding that Pakistan Army and intelligence personnel as well as the Chinese investigation team visited the blast site Saturday to probe the case. 

The minister said China had appreciated Pakistan for its investigation and cooperation in the Dasu blast, adding that the Chinese had conveyed to Pakistan that both countries should be on the same page. 

Rasheed rejected reports that work on the Dasu dam had been stopped, adding that all CPEC projects and work on Pakistani dams will not be disrupted.