Months after his father was assassinated, Shahbaz Taseer, the son of slain Punjab governor Salman Taseer and half-brother of the writer Aatish Taseer, was kidnapped from Lahore on Friday, the police said.
“Shahbaz Taseer was kidnapped at gunpoint from Gulberg Chowk,” a police official said. An eyewitness said he was abducted by four bearded kidnappers riding motorcycles while the other kidnappers were in a red car.
The police said Shahbaz Taseer was travelling in his car without his personal security guards. “A passport and other important documents were recovered from Shahbaz Taseer’s car,” the police said.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and interior minister Rehman Malik have ordered the concerned officials to recover Shahbaz Taseer immediately. According to a government notification, Mr Gilani telephoned the daughter of Salman Taseer, Sherbano, and assured her that no effort would be spared to recover her brother.