Balochistan insecurity: Six PTCL workers go missing

The team busy in maintenance work on telephone lines disappeared in Killa Saifullah district

QUETTA: At least six officials of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), including a divisional engineer and SDO, have gone missing in the mountainous stretch of Killa Saifullah district of Balochistan, a senior official told The Express Tribune on Friday.

Officials have yet to confirm whether or not it is a case of kidnapping.

A PTCL director has reported to the authorities in that six of their workers have gone missing near the Musafer Kor area of Killa Saifullah around 9pm, official sources said. An official quoting a PTCL source said, “They were busy in maintenance of the PTCL lines in the area when we lost contact with them.”

Killa Saifullah’s district commissioner confirming the incident said that Divisional Engineer Asadullah and SDO Mohammed Naeem were among six officials who had gone missing.

According to PTCL sources, the six-member team was busy in maintenance work in Killa Saifullah and Zhob districts. The workers were expected to reach Zhob but didn’t.

The Balochistan Levies have started an investigation into the case. Zhob is one of the troubled districts in Balochistan where security forces have launched an operation against extremists.

At the end of last year, the Taliban had kidnapped nine people from bordering areas of Zhob and Killa Saifullah. They killed one of the hostages while released six others.

Power pylons damaged

Two power pylons of 220 KV transmission lines were partially damaged in explosions in the Chattar area of Nasirabad district on Friday night.

According to a police official in Chattar, saboteurs planted explosive devices near the power pylons in Goth Manzoor Chohan. The blasts partially damaged the pylons.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 7^th, 2015.