QUETTA: Awami National Party (ANP) leader Arbab Abdul Zahir Kasi was kidnapped on Wednesday in Quetta, DawnNews reported.

Police took the ANP leader's driver into custody who disclosed that their vehicle was intercepted on Quetta's Patel road by three armed men in a white car.

The gunmen forcibly took Kasi away, the driver said, adding that the kidnappers had also subjected him to torture before snatching away his mobile phone and car keys.

Police sealed the area as a search operation went underway.

Quetta is the capital of Balochistan province which has seen an upswing in violence in recent months and is suffering from a separatist insurgency, sectarian violence and Taliban militants.

Incidents of kidnapping for ransom have been on the rise in the province in general and in Quetta in particular.