The Pakistani man, who was accused of assisting ISI to kidnap former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav from Iran, was taken down by unknown gunmen in Balochistan on Friday night, according to reports.
The religious “scholar” was identified as Mufti Shah Mir in the province who had previously survived two attempts on his life. He was known to be involved in human trafficking.
According to reports, unknown gunmen, who have been accused of killing several terrorists in Pakistan in recent times, ambushed Mir as he was departing from a local mosque in Turbat after offering prayers.
The gunmen fired multiple shots at him at point blank range, after which Mir died at the hospital, Dawn reported.
Jadhav was abducted by a group led by Jaish al-Adl’s Mullah Omar Irani in March 2016 from the Iran-Pakistan border. He was then handed over to the Pakistani army through various intermediaries, including Mir.
Who Was Mufti Shah Mir?
Mir worked as an arms and human trafficker under the guise of a scholar as a member of a fundamentalist party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI). He also shared a close relationship with the ISI, the Pakistani spy agency.
According to reports, Mir frequently paid visits to terrorist camps in Pakistan and assisted them in the infiltration bid into the Indian side of the border.
According to The Times of India, Mir played a key role in the abduction and killing of several Baloch youths in custody. He also played a significant role in the propagation of religious extremism in Balochistan.
Mir had recently restricted his movements due to two attempts on his life last year.
Last week, two other members of JUI-F, Wadera Ghulam Sarwar and Molvi Amanullah, were gunned down by bike-borne assailants, which was dubbed by the local police as “targeted killings”.
Mir was instrumental in actively providing intelligence about Baloch fighters to the Pakistani army. He instructed the killing of a teacher named Abdul Rauf in 2023 over alleged blasphemy in Turbat.
Kulbhushan Jadhav Case
Indian national Jadhav, who ran a business in Iran’s Chabahar following a premature retirement from the Indian Navy, was abducted and booked on false charges in Pakistan.
He was held in the Chaman region of Balochistan, near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, on March 3, 2016. In April 2017, a Pakistani military court sentenced him to death, accusing him of espionage and sabotage.
India strongly condemned the verdict, calling it a premeditated murder. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in India’s favour, staying the execution and directing Pakistan to review the conviction process while ensuring consular access for India.