Hungarian firm’s engineers: Ex-lawmaker’s hand in kidnapping suspected

‘There were clear instructions that workers should not travel after 3.30 pm’.

ISLAMABAD: The top administrative official in Kohat believes that former lawmaker Shah Abdul Aziz and his followers among the Taliban might have seized two engineers of a multinational oil and gas exploration company.

Gunmen abducted two engineers of Hungarian firm MOL while they were travelling somewhere between the Lachi area and Hangu district on Tuesday. The gunmen also traded fire with paramilitary troops escorting the company staff. Six people – including four paramilitary troops – were killed in the encounter.

“I believe Shah Abdul Aziz, a former lawmaker from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Samiul Haq) and his supporters among the Taliban are responsible for the incident,” Commissioner of Kohat Khalid Umerzai told The Express Tribune by telephone. Shah Abdul Aziz, who had sided with the radical students of the Lal Masjid during an army operation, was later jailed for his involvement with the Taliban.

Umerzai said police had taken into possession the double-cabin vehicle of the MOL abandoned by the gunmen.

The commissioner said that he was not aware that the kidnappers were demanding Rs100 million and release of some Taliban in exchange for the release of the abducted engineers.

He accused the MOL of violating the official security instructions that led to Tuesday’s attack. “There were clear instructions that MOL workers should not travel in that area after 3.30 pm,” he added. “But they left the exploration site after 5 pm.”

Umerzai rejected the MOL claim that the government had failed to provide security to its employees. “We have provided them 30 to 35 FC troops along with a contingent of elite force,” he said. The MOL management suspended operations after the attack.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 24^th, 2011.