In a sharp escalation in tensions between Dhaka and Islamabad, Pakistan High Commissioner in Dhaka Shuja Alam has been summoned to the Foreign Office after a Bangladesh mission staffer in Islamabad went missing for hours.

“I have been informed of yesterday’s (Monday) incident and I will convey the details to the foreign ministry after discussions with the Islamabad authorities,” Alam told reporters after emerging from Acting Foreign Secretary Md Khurshid Alam’s office on Tuesday.

But he said Dhaka-Islamabad ties would continue as always and “I hope that relations will improve in the coming days”.

The foreign ministry did not make any official statement.

But a senior ministry official told bdnews24.com that a “protest note” was handed over to the high commissioner on the “detention of our staff”.

The Bangladesh High Commission’s press wing personal staff Jahangir Hossain went missing on Monday afternoon hours after a Pakistan High Commission official in Dhaka was detained by police.

Bangladesh envoy to Pakistan Suhrab Hossain confirmed to bdnews24.com in the wee hours of Tuesday that Hossain had been found unharmed.

Police in Dhaka had earlier detained Abrar Ahmed Khan, a press section assistant private secretary at the Pakistan High Commission, on Monday noon.

But he was released and handed over to the high commission officials later in the evening.

Police claimed to have found Indian currency worth Rs 3,500 on Khan. The Pakistan mission rejected the charge and condemned the incident.

Both incidents have fuelled the tension between the two countries, already compounded by Pakistan’s comments on the trials of the 1971 war criminals and alleged terrorist links of officials of the Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka.

(BDNews24)