Without a trace: Police official, four others kidnapped in Hangu

Militants kidnap relatives and blow up a Khasadar’s house

HANGU/ BARA: Five people including a policeman were kidnapped by unidentified persons from Garab Kallay, Hangu in the late hours of Saturday.

SHO Islam Din said that police constable Muhammad Amir, and his four friends Qadir, Israr Hussain, Muhammad Sadique, and Waqas had gone for a picnic to the mountainous area of Kata Kanray on Saturday afternoon.

The five men were in the area till around 6pm in the evening, which is near an Afghan refugee camp. At around 9pm Amir’s family said that he had called them and told them they were in Garab Kallay.

After the phone call, the men disappeared and despite repeated attempts by family members to call then, did not respond to their cell phones. Family members then went to the area they were last seen in, but villagers they spoke to said that they had not seen the men.

SHO Din added that they filed a report about the kidnapping and began investigations in the area. “We have so far not found any clues leading to the whereabouts of the missing people,” he said. He did indicate, however, that they had reports of suspected militants in the area.

It may be recalled that incidents of kidnapping from the outskirts of Hangu city are on the rise. On Friday, two people were abducted by unidentified kidnappers and their bullet-riddled bodies were later found in Kurram Agency.

Relatives of Khasadar officials kidnapped

Eight relatives of local khasadars (tribal police) were kidnapped by militants from Sipah area of Bara tehsil in Khyber Agency on Sunday.

Political Administration (PA) official Asad Khan said that militants have now started abducting their relatives and destroying their houses in a bid to pressurize them. A Khasadar driver’s son, Madakhel was among the eight kidnapped. Three more have been identified as Habib, Zulfiqar and Noormat Khan. The official added that all of them were abducted from the troubled Sipah area of the tehsil.

Late Saturday night, militants planted a bomb along the wall of a khasadar official, Azizur Rahman’s house in Speen Qabar area. The bomb exploded, destroying the house. However, no family member was injured in the incident.

Earlier, the political administration (PA) restored jobs of 600 khasadars who were sacked in September 2009 for abandoning their duties. They were being threatened by the Mangal Bagh led Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) and told to quit their jobs.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 3^rd, 2012.