FORMER Foreign Secretary Niaz A. Naik's death under mysterious circumstances badly reflects on the working of the Islamabad Police that recovered his decomposed body only after being alerted by the Foreign Office. There were conflicting reports about the manner of his death. Initially it was said that he died of natural causes but the preliminary autopsy suggested that he had been murdered. The distinguished diplomat who served Pakistan with commitment and professionalism also became known for his efforts to bring about reconciliation between Pakistan and India that stipulated a just resolution of the Kashmir dispute. Even though he spent a significant part of his career serving as Pakistan's Special Representative to the United Nations in New York and Geneva before becoming the Foreign Secretary in the mid-eighties, he shot to fame as an architect of the Pakistan-India Track-Two diplomacy after his retirement. At one stage he and his Indian counterpart R. K. Misra were probably the only channel of communication that had pulled the nuclear-armed neighbours back from the brink of war in 1999. The government has to make sure that if the final autopsy report confirms his death by murder his assassins receive their due punishment.