Khuzdar kidnappings: Govt official released by kidnappers

Shawani and his friend Nasir Ahmed were kidnapped on December 15, by a group of armed men near Windar area.

QUETTA: The Khuzdar district education officer, Zakaria Shawani, who was kidnapped along with a companion earlier this month, was released by his kidnappers on Tuesday night.

Shawani and senior teacher Nasir Ahmed were seized on December 15 by armed men while they were travelling to Khuzdar from Hub, an industrial town that shares a border with Karachi. Their abandoned vehicle was found in the Vindar area the next day.

Captors freed both men near Lasbela district. They reached their home in Khuzdar on Wednesday, but neither man spoke to the media about the kidnapping.

According to sources, the kidnappers had freed both officials after receiving a huge sum of money as ransom. Family members and officials did not confirm this assertion.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 22^nd, 2011.