A Pakistani “scholar” accused of helping Pakistan’s ISI spy agency in kidnapping former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav from Iran, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in the restive Balochistan region on Friday night. Mufti Shah Mir was a leading religious scholar in Balochistan who had survived two earlier attempts on his life, reported local media.

He was ambushed by gunmen riding motorcycles while leaving a local mosque in Turbat after his night prayers, police said. He was shot multiple times at point blank range and died at the hospital on Friday.

Mir was a member of the fundamentalist party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) who worked as an arms and human trafficker under the cover of a scholar, according to The Times of India. He was also close to the ISI. Reports suggest that he often visited terror camps in Pakistan and helped terrorists infiltrate into the Indian territory.

Two other members of Mir’s party were shot dead last week in Khuzdar.

Kulbhushan Jadhav Case

Jadhav, who ran a business in Iran’s Chabahar after taking premature retirement from the Navy, is on death row in Pakistan after being convicted of spying by a military court in 2017. India condemned the verdict and accused Islamabad of not allowing a fair trial.

His execution was halted in 2019 with the International Court of Justice asking Pakistan to review his conviction and grant him consular access.

He was kidnapped from near the Iran-Pakistan border in 2016 and handed over to the Pakistani army. He is currently in the Pakistani prison. Mullah Omar Irani, a member of Jaish al-Adl who played a key role in kidnapping Jadhav, was allegedly shot dead by ISI operatives in Turbat in 2020.

In 2021, Pakistan adopted a bill to allow Mr Jadhav appeal his conviction, but India said the law had the same “shortcomings” of a previous legislation and “failed” to create an atmosphere that will ensure a fair trial in this case.