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.