Mystery continues to surround the arrest of Dr Aafia Siddiqui in Karachi almost 10 days ago, with her family insisting she was not "picked up" by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The FBI recently listed Dr Siddiqui on its website as a "wanted person" suspected of helping harbour terrorists and possible involvement in manufacturing chemicals for Al Qaida.
For the past several weeks, Dr Siddiqui had travelled across Pakistan, visiting Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and her home city of Karachi, to evade FBI agents on her trail.
It was reported that she was eventually tracked down and held in Karachi. The whole affair, however, remains shrouded in mystery, with Pakistani authorities denying even knowing Dr Siddiqui.
"I do not have Internet access and have not seen this FBI website," claimed one senior police officials when asked about the matter. Replies from officials in government are also elusive.
Meanwhile, Ismat Siddiqui, mother of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, is looking for the whereabouts of her 'missing' daughter. She has visited both Lahore and Islambad in this quest, and denies the FBI has held her daughter.
The fact that the FBI has not claimed responsibility for holding Aafia at any forum, despite being directly asked by her well connected family, is adding to the mystery. It is also believed the government's evasive attitude may be aimed to ward off pressure from the family, and as such even "off the record" admissions of any arrest are not being made.
Ismat Siddiqui, Aafia's mother, told the press in Karachi that though the government had denied the arrest of her daughter, recently an unknown man came to her house and informed her that her daughter was safe and sound. He directed her not to make hue and cry regarding her daughter's disappearance, if she wanted the safe recovery of her daughter. He also threatened her that if she made the matter public, her daughter would meet the "same fate as Asif Bhuja met."
Asif Bhuja was a suspect in abduction and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl, and was mysteriously found dead when police reached his home to question him.
Ismat said in the last week of March that her daughter Aafia, after a domestic quarrel, left her home in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Block 7 Karachi along with her three children. Later, she (Aafia) called her on phone to say that she was going to Rawalpindi to meet her friend from where she would move to her uncle's house in Lahore.
But Aafia never reached her destination. Ismat believes that her daughter was not picked up by the FBI or Pakistani law enforcement agencies as some top leaders of the ruling party, the PML-QA and police high-ups have assured her that Aafia was not in their custody.
"I trust what they say," she said adding that Aafia's brother, Mohammed Ali Siddiqui, hired a lawyer in America for getting information regarding Aafia's whereabouts, but the U.S. authorities reportedly told him that Aafia was not in their custody.
Ismat Siddiqui appears to believe her son-in-law, Majid A. khan, also a doctor, may have abducted Aafia "as they had major problems." The family also seems to believe that he "provided concocted evidence" to frame her before the FBI.
Other sources, including some in intelligence agencies, concede this is a "dangerous possibility" and could be used by others wishing to "get their won back" on anyone. At the same time, the agency sources hold that "Aafia's arrest has really not even been whispered off," and say there is some possibility she has been taken away by militants to "avoid information being provided by her."
The fact that previous FBI arrests have not been acknowledged adds to the air of uncertainty over all such incidents. Giving details about her daughter, Ismat Siddiqui said that Aafia did PhD on "Status of Women in Islam" and she got a number of awards from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University.
Ismat, who was the member of Zakat and Ushr Council during the Zia regime, described her daughter as a very religious and pious woman despite spending years in America. She expressed ignorance when she was informed that the FBI wanted her daughter for questioning.
Mystery surrounds arrest of Dr Siddiqui
Mystery surrounds arrest of Dr Siddiqui