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Today's Paper | November 27, 2024

Published 17 Nov, 2001 12:00am

KOHAT: Road blocked to protest kidnapping

KOHAT, Nov 16: A policeman was reportedly injured in a clash with an angry mob led by the Nazim of union council which kept the Kohat-Hangu main road blocked for five hours near Ustarzai.

The protesters were demanding early recovery of a school teacher kidnapped by a group of people belonging to Orakzai Agency.

The in charge of the Ustarzai police station said the constable Jan Mohammed was hit by a bullet in his leg when his rifle went of incidentally in trying to disperse the mob.

He said the matter was later resolved peacefully by the police officials through local elders.

Syed Mahtabul Hassan, Nazim of the union council, who had given a 24-hour deadline for the release of the kidnapped school teacher gathered local people and blocked Kohat-Hangu Road.

Despite the intervention of the police the protesters refused to clear the road and asked for some senior official to give them assurance for the recovery of the victim.

The teacher, Shafique Hussain, was kidnapped at gunpoint from Kohat by unidentified armed men on Monday.

Meanwhile, the SSP Kohat has conducted raids at different places for the recovery of the teacher and arrested five proclaimed offenders from a guavas orchard in Tappi.

The Saddar police have registered a case against the POs identified as Imtiaz son of Jalal, Arshad alias Laparo and Zahir Shah son of Mohammed Shah after recovering four Kalashnikovs and 392 rounds from their possession.

The district police chief had made a contact with the tribal elders for initiating negotiations with the kidnappers for the early release of the victim.

The senior superintendent of police, Ihsan Ghani assured the protesters and the Ustarzai Nazim that the victim would be recovered safely very soon after which they removed the blockade of the road.

The senior vice-president of the Orakzai Agency teachers association, Syed Yousaf Jan has also condemned the incident and demanded immediate action against the kidnappers and warned the administration that if the victim was not recovered within 24 hours they would boycott the classes.

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