High profile kidnapping: ANP leader abducted in Quetta

Zahir Kasi was kidnapped near an intersection in downtown.

QUETTA:

In another incident of kidnapping in restive Quetta, armed men on Wednesday carried away Awami National Party (ANP) Balochistan Chapter’s former president Arbab Zahir Kasi.

According to the Regional Police Officer (RPO) Arif Nawaz, Arbab Zahir Kasi was on his way to visit his relatives in downtown area of the city when a group of armed men intercepted his vehicle near an intersection of Patel Road.

They kidnappers manhandled Kasi’s driver and, after snatching his mobile phone and car keys, took Kansi away, leaving the driver and the car behind.

“The driver tried to resist the kidnapping attempt but the culprits subjected him to torture,” a police officer said, quoting the driver, who was released after hours of interrogation.

As the news of the incident spread, a protest started and angry people armed with weapons resorted to aerial firing.

“My father is a respected local citizen and the chief of Kasi tribe. I appeal the abductors for his safe release,” said Abdul Suleman Kasi, son of the kidnapped Zahir Kasi.

He said he did not know if his father had received any threats. “Kidnapping has become a lucrative business in Quetta,” he added.

ANP’s press conference

Addressing a news conference at Quetta Press Club, the ANP’s Provincial General Secretary Rasheed Nasir said his party was not involved in the protest following the incident, suggesting that the protestors who took to streets were members of the Kasi tribe.

He, however, called for a shutter down strike across the province on Thursday.

“We demand safe recovery of Arbab Kasi. ANP Balochistan will intensify its protest if the government failed to recover our leader,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 24^th, 2013.