Nizamuddin Dargah's head priest among 2 Indian clerics missing in Pak

Two Indian clerics, including the head priest of New Delhi's Nizamuddin Dargah, have gone missing in Pakistan, prompting India to take up the matter with the Pakistani government.

According to official sources in New Delhi, Asif Nizami, the chief priest, and Nazim Nizami had gone to visit the famous Daata Darbar shrine in Lahore and were to catch a flight from there to Karachi yesterday.

"As per their families, while Asif was allowed to go to Karachi, Nazim was stopped at the Lahore airport on grounds of incomplete travel papers. "While Nazim went missing from Lahore airport, Asif went missing after arriving at the Karachi airport," a source said.

The matter has been taken up with the Pakistan government both in New Delhi as well as through the Indian mission in Islamabad, the source said. The duo had gone to Karachi to meet their relatives on March 8 before travelling to Lahore to visit the shrine. Exchanges between clerics of the Nizamuddin Dargah and the Daata Darbar are part of a regular tradition.