PESHAWAR: Unknown gunmen attacked a hujra in the Badbher area on the outskirts of Peshawar and abducted three people.
The hujra situated in the Mashokhel area of Badbher belongs to the slain Awami National Party (ANP) leader Mian Mushtaq. The three people who were abducted were reported to be Mushtaq’s close associates and relatives.
The Station House Officer (SHO) of Badbher police station Garanullah said that the attackers may have thrown a hand grenade or a bomb at Mushtaq's hujra, which damaged two vehicles on the premises.
Family sources have said that three people related to the late ANP leader were abducted by the gunmen, SHO Garanullah said. The names of those abducted are Fahad, Shakeel and Shabbir Ahmed.
The police said that it was not possible at present to confirm whether the attack was carried out by militants or was a result of a personal enmity.
Mian Mushtaq was gunned down some weeks earlier along with his driver and an associate. His funeral was also targeted with a remote-controlled bomb that exploded near the funeral venue.
Mian Naseer Ahmed, a relative of the slain ANP leader, registered a report with the police and said that masked gunmen entered the premises and kidnapped Fahad, Shakeel and Shabbir after separating them from the others.
He added that after taking the abductees, the gunmen detonated some explosives, which damaged two vehicles parked nearby and to the hujra.
Terror bid to blow up police checkpost foiled
Meanwhile, the security forces foiled a sabotage bid by defusing an eight kilo bomb near Saifan police checkpost.
SHO Badbher police station, Garanullah told Dawn.com that a suspected terrorist has been arrested who was planning to blow up the checkpost through a home-made bomb placed in a nearby parked car.
He said that the alleged terrorist, identified as Shoaib Akhtar, belonged to Nala Kajori area of Khyber Agency and was a member of a banned outfit.
The Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of police Shafqat Malik told the media that the bomb disposal squad defused the explosives which was placed in vegetable oil tin and weighed about 7 to 8 kilograms.
The suspected terrorist is being interrogated for more information