KOHAT, Nov 11: Militants on Sunday kidnapped a human rights activist and his family from the Akhorwal area of Darra Adam Khel in the Frontier Region, officials said.

The kidnappers later released the family of chairman of the All Pakistan Human Rights Organisation Habibur Rehman Orakzai. They took Mr Orakzai with them but left the family’s vehicle behind.

The tribal administration summoned an emergency meeting of the elders of eight main Afridi tribes of FR Kohat to fix the responsibility for the crime. The meeting was continuing till the filing of this report.

Meanwhile, a spokesman of local militants calling themselves Taliban, who control the region, denied their involvement.

District Coordination Officer of Kohat Kamran Zeb and Assistant Political Agent of FR Kohat Capt (retd) Tariq told Dawn that their priority was to recover safely the rights activist as soon as possible.

They said that soon after the incident, all exit routes of the Frontier Region were sealed and law-enforcement personnel were trying to locate the kidnappers’ hideout. Information was also being collected from the Khasadar Force and tribal maliks, he said.

Mr Tariq said that they had sent back Mr Orakzai’s family back to Peshawar, adding that they were being kept informed about the case’s progress.

While he did not rule out the possibility of launching an operation for the victim’s recovery, he said that if the kidnappers had shifted the victim to some other area, like FR of Peshawar, Orakzai or the Khyber Agency, they would have to involve the respective administrations in rescue efforts.

Opinion

Editorial

Solidarity with Palestine
Updated 29 Nov, 2024

Solidarity with Palestine

The wretched of the earth see in the Palestinian struggle against Israel a mirror of themselves.
Little relief for public
29 Nov, 2024

Little relief for public

INFLATION, the rate of increase in the prices of goods and services over a given period of time, has receded...
Right to education
29 Nov, 2024

Right to education

IT is troubling to learn that over 16,500 students of the University of Karachi (KU) have defaulted on fee payments...
A hasty retreat
Updated 28 Nov, 2024

A hasty retreat

Govt should not extend its campaign of violence against PTI and its leaders, thinking it now has the upper hand. Enough is enough.
Lebanon truce
28 Nov, 2024

Lebanon truce

WILL it hold? That is the question many in the Middle East and beyond will be asking after a 60-day ceasefire ...
MDR anomaly removed
28 Nov, 2024

MDR anomaly removed

THE State Bank’s decision to remove its minimum deposit rate requirement for conventional banks on deposits from...