Missing Pak scribe, who helped find missing Indian national, recovered after two years

Zeenat Shahzadi, who disappeared in 2015 while working on the case of a missing Indian national in Pakistan, has been recovered by security forces, officials said on Friday.

Retired justice Javed Iqbal, head of the missing persons commission, confirmed Shahzadi’s return while speaking to BBC Urdu. According to him, the 24-year-old was recovered close to the border with Afghanistan on Wednesday night.

Iqbal said some “non-state actors” had kidnapped her, adding that tribal leaders in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa played an important role in her recovery, Dawn reported.

The freelance reporter, who used to also refer to herself as a “human rights activist”, had been working on the case of Mumbai resident Hamid Ansari, who had disappeared in Pakistan in November 2012. With the help of social media, she was able to contact Ansari’s mother in India and filed a case with the Supreme Court on her behalf.

Later, Pakistani authorities admitted that Ansari was in jail on espionage charges. He is yet to be released.

Soon afterwards, Shahzadi was allegedly detained by security agencies and questioned about Hamid. Later that year, in August, she disappeared en route to work.