Amid reports claiming that Taliban’s supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada may be in the custody of the Pakistan Army and has not been seen during the last six months, the security establishment here said he could be very much in Afghanistan itself and could arrive on the scene once the US forces completely withdraw from the war-ravaged country on August 31.

Sources said Akhundzada had even congratulated his deputy Mulla Abdul Ghani Baradar following the swift takeover of Kabul on Sunday.

 “The most important Quetta shura or Rahbari Shura (consultative council) of the Taliban is based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region of Pakistan. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party PTI had won the Assembly elections with the help of Taliban, so keeping Akhundzada in custody would only damage the ruling dispensation in Islamabad,” an official tracking the development said.

Further, it is in the interest of Pakistan to back the Taliban sweep in Kabul for its larger geopolitical agenda, experts said adding that keeping Akhundzada in custody would only defeat its interests.

Without Akhundzada’s active role, the Taliban could not have captured Afghanistan within a matter of days as against US’ estimates of a takeover of Kabul in 18 months.

In addition, the Taliban has a close relationship with the Haqqani network and any such misadventure by the Pakistani army could have been resolutely repulsed by the two dreaded terror groups, both of which continue to be sanctioned by the UN.

Media reports claimed that the Government here is studying information shared by foreign intelligence agencies and monitoring chatter from within the group’s ranks to locate the whereabouts of the secretive Akhundzada.

However, India’s embassy staff and the ambassador in Kabul had to be evacuated with the US’ reassurance from the Taliban to facilitate evacuation of diplomats and other staff of four of its allies including New Delhi. Following the closure of the embassy there, even generation of intelligence inputs has virtually come to a halt. Even when the mission there was operational, the agencies could assess the ground situation for evacuation of Indian nationals and diplomatic corps. An estimated 2,000 Indian nationals continue to be held up in Afghanistan post the swift takeover of Kabul by Taliban.

Reports quoting unnamed Government officials said that the Supreme Taliban leader could be in the custody of the Pakistan Army as he has not been seen by the Taliban’s senior leaders and fighters in the past six months. His last public statement came in May to mark Eid-ul-fitr, a Muslim religious festival.

Akhundzada was appointed as the Taliban chief in May 2016, after his predecessor Akhtar Mansour was killed in a US drone strike. One of Mansour’s two deputies, Akhundzada, was promoted at a meeting in Pakistan.

Akhundzada is widely portrayed as an Islamic legal scholar and not a military commander which contrary to the culture prevailing in Taliban where the top rungs of the outfit double up as both military commanders and scholars in Muslim laws.

Akhundzada is one of top seven Taliban leaders who have been either instrumental in negotiations with the US for troops withdrawal, capture of Afghanistan province by province within a matter of just days and will play a key role in formation of the ruling structure in the coming days, experts added.

Pakistan has not only provided 10,000 jehadis to the Taliban for the onslaught of the country but has also provided sharp military planning in capture of Afghanistan and has also forged alliance between its terror affiliates Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Jaish-e-Mohammad with the Taliban for hitting Indian assets in that country.