Kasi kidnapping case: Federal agencies asked to help trace ANP leader

AAG informs court that Political Agent in Miramshah was not cooperating.

QUETTA: The Balochistan High Court (BHC) on Wednesday directed interior ministry and minister for states and frontier region to cooperate with investigators to ensure Awami National Party (ANP) leader Arbab Zahir Kasi’s recovery, who was abducted last year.

Kasi, a former provincial president of the Awami National Party, was picked up from Patel Road on October 23 and is allegedly held captive at an unknown location in North Waziristan Agency.

The two-member bench of the BHC, comprising Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa and Justice Kamal Mulakhail while hearing the case also directed Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to submit a report on how Kasi’s captors were using internet gateway for phone calls to approach the family for ransom money.

Additional Advocate General (AAG) Mir Shahik Baloch informed the court that the Political Agent in Miramshah was not cooperating with the investigators tasked to trace the culprits behind the ANP leader’s abduction.

Baloch said, “Investigators travelled to Miramshah to meet the local administration, however they refused to give access to the areas where Kasi was reportedly held hostage.”

The AAG said it seems the kidnappers are using gateway with complete impunity which raises questions over the cyber security system in the country. “Investigators approached PTA and FIA but they did not cooperate,” he informed the court.

Subsequently, chief justice directed interior minister and minister for state and frontier regions to ensure cooperation with investigators.

The hearing was adjourned till April 29th.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 3^rd, 2014.