Residents of Rahim Yar Khan’s Nawazabad union council took to the streets on Sunday to lodge a protest against the recent kidnapping of two local wrestlers.

The demonstrators said Hashim Khan Pathan and Raheel Khan Pathan were abducted on their way back home in the wee hours of Saturday from the Mahi Chowk area near Bhong.

Carrying placards and chanting slogans, the protesters demanded the immediate recovery of the men. They also said that the station house officer of the Kot Sabzal police station should be sacked and included in the investigation.

Earlier today, the police registered a first information report (FIR) of the kidnapping on Sunday morning. under Section 365 (kidnapping or abducting for extorting property, valuable security, etc) of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of Raheel’s father.

The complaint, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, stated that Raheel and Hashim had left their house on Saturday for a match. “When they didn’t return for a long period of time, their families started searching for them and found Raheel’s motorcycle by the river near Mahi Chowk,” it said.

District Police Officer (DPO) Akhtar Farooq has also taken notice of the incident, the police spokesperson told Dawn.com, adding that a search operation was underway in the area by a team headed by the Sadiqabad assistant superintendent of police.

Meanwhile, speaking to the media on Saturday, PPP MPA Mumtaz Chang had pinned the blame on the police for the rise in kidnapping cases.

He had claimed he had proof against police officials who were involved in abduction incidents, alleging that the cops took their shares from kidnappers after the abductees were released.

Chang had also threatened to block the Sukkur-Multan Motorway, M-5, and Guddu-Kashmore road if the police failed to register an FIR against the unidentified dacoits by Saturday night.

The MPA had also expressed fear that the police would get him killed by dacoits as they were allegedly protecting them.