Pakistan releases Indian HC staffers after hit-and-run case

Pakistan arrested and released two Indian High Commission employees in Islamabad over a hit-and-run case, in which a man was reportedly critically injured.

The two members of Indian High Commission staff were caught trying to flee the scene of the incident in the capital, police in Islamabad said.

The pedestrian reportedly ran over by their BMW car early on Monday was taken to hospital.

India summoned Pakistan's envoy in Delhi in protest at the arrests. The two men were released late on Monday, reported BBC.

Earlier, officials in India said the two members of High Commission staff - named by Islamabad police as Silvades Paul, a driver, and security officer Dawamu Brahamu - had gone missing in Pakistan. They had apparently set off to a meeting but never arrived.

Because of the coronavirus, few people are out on the roads of the capital, particularly in the upscale neighbourhood where the hit-and-run has occurred, making it hard to track down eyewitnesses.

The arrests came two weeks after India expelled two Pakistani officials accused of spying. The officials worked at the visa section in Pakistan's High Commission in Delhi.

The neighbours have a long history of diplomatic spats and often accuse each other of sending spies into their territories. Monday's arrests will do nothing to ease tensions between the nuclear powers.