New Delhi: The two Indian clerics, who had gone missing in Pakistan, landed in India on Monday.


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The duo, along with their families, will meet External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj later in the day.


"Both have reached home and are safe and sound. We had a talk and they were quite excited after coming back. We thank the Ministry of External Affairs and the central government for ensuring their safe return," said Syed Sajid Ali, the son of the 80-year-old cleric. 

The duo, on their arrival, visited the Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah and were warmly welcomed by the people.


The two clerics of Delhi's Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah were reportedly found in a remote village of Sindh province with no mobile connectivity.


Syed Asif Ali Nizami, 80, and his nephew Nazim Ali Nizami, were visiting Data Darbar in Lahore when they went missing on Wednesday.


Local media reports, citing unnamed sources, said both clerics were traced in Karachi's Nazimabad neighbourhood, where they had apparently gone to "(rural) Sindh to meet their followers, where there was no communication network", which is why they could not inform their relatives about their whereabouts.


 


Earlier, Pakistani sources had said the two clerics were in the custody of Pakistan's intelligence agency over their alleged links with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).


They were offloaded from Karachi-bound Shaheen Airlines on March 14 at the Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore, the Pakistani sources had said.