Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Joint Director Sajid Gondal, who had gone missing from Islamabad last week, returned home on Tuesday night and said was vacationing in northern areas.

Gondal, after confirmation by his family and friends, himself also took to Twitter to announce his return, saying he was back and safe, and thankful to all those who were worried.

Meanwhile, a report quoted him as saying that he had gone to the northern areas for recreation.

RELATED STORIES

Police sources involved in the investigation of his disappearance told Dawn that the abductors had set him free.

He was released near Rawat, a suburb of the federal capital. Upon being freed, he contacted his family members through a phone call and informed them that he was arriving home shortly, sources added.

Gondal had gone missing on Thursday night and his car was found from Park Road in the capital the next morning.

His wife had submitted a complaint of the incident at the Shahzad Town police station, expressing suspicion that her husband had been “kidnapped by unidentified persons”. She had urged the police to ensure his return, adding that the family “did not have any enmity”.

The Shahzad Town police had registered a case over the official’s disappearance under Section 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) on the complaint lodged by his wife.

The FIR stated that Gondal left his house on Thursday at around 7:30 pm in his official car but did not return. Later his car was found parked at Chak Shahzad Town road near the National Agriculture Research Centre (NARC) but he was missing from there, the FIR stated, adding that his mobile phone was found switched off since then.

The issue of Gondal’s disappearance was taken up by the federal cabinet on Tuesday, with Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan expressing “serious concern” over such an incident taking place in the capital.

On Monday, Chief Justice Athar Minallah of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had also expressed serious concern over the rising number of enforced disappearances in the federal capital and directed the interior secretary to take up the issue with the PM in order to devise a policy for the protection of fundamental rights of citizens.