Mufti Shah Mir, accused of assisting Pakistan’s ISI in the abduction of Indian businessman and former Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav from Iran, was shot dead on Friday night in Turbat, Balochistan. Unidentified gunmen ambushed him as he was leaving a local mosque after Taraweeh (night) prayers, firing multiple shots at point-blank range.
According to a report in Dawn, Mir was immediately taken to a hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
A Key Figure in Human and Arms Trafficking
Mir, an alleged human and arms trafficker, operated under the guise of a mufti (scholar) and was a member of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), an Islamic fundamentalist political party. He was reportedly a key conduit for ISI-led death squads and played a crucial role in the abduction and extrajudicial killings of several Baloch youths. Sources also claim he was actively involved in spreading religious extremism in Balochistan.
Past Assassination Attempts and Internal ISI Conflict
Mir had survived two assassination attempts last year and had recently restricted his movements. However, he was eventually killed in what is suspected to be an internal conflict within ISI-linked networks. Last week, two other JUI-F members—Wadera Ghulam Sarwar and Molvi Amanullah—were similarly gunned down by bike-borne assailants in what local authorities described as targeted killings.
Role in Jadhav’s Abduction and Other Alleged Crimes
In March 2016, Kulbhushan Jadhav was kidnapped by a group led by Mullah Omar Irani of Jaish al-Adl near the Iran-Pakistan border and handed over to the Pakistan Army through several intermediaries, including Mir. Irani, along with his two sons, was later killed in Turbat in November 2020, allegedly by ISI.
Mir was also accused of providing intelligence about Baloch fighters to the Pakistani military. In 2023, he was allegedly involved in orchestrating the killing of a teacher named Abdul Rauf in Turbat over alleged blasphemy.
The Case of Kulbhushan Jadhav
Jadhav, who had taken premature retirement from the Indian Navy and was running a business in Chabahar, Iran, was abducted and falsely charged with espionage by Pakistan. While Pakistan claimed he was intercepted in Balochistan’s Chaman area on March 3, 2016, India maintained that he was kidnapped from Iran. In April 2017, a Pakistani military court sentenced him to death, leading to strong condemnation from India, which termed it a “premeditated murder.”
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) later intervened, staying Jadhav’s execution and ordering Pakistan to review the conviction while granting India consular access.
