Abduction of two passengers near Shahwali: Kidnappers demand Rs 10 million ransom

By AS Qamar

MULTAN: Ten unidentified tribesmen raided a passenger coach near Shahwali and kidnapped two passengers Sajid Hussain and Muhammad Rizwan on Tuesday. The abductors are demanding Rs10 million for the release of the passengers. The police has claimed that the abductors are Bugti tribesmen.

Another passenger, Dr Owais, was also kidnapped but he was released after he told the kidnappers in Balochi that he was a Baloch and not a Punjabi. “We are trying to get the two passengers released,” said Dera Ghazi Khan DIG Hamayun Raza Sharif. “ I am optimistic that with the help of the tribal area administration, the situation will be under control soon.”

The bus was going to Karachi from Dera Ghazi Khan, said coach driver Ghulam Mustafa. Ten armed dacoits stopped the bus and snatched cash and gold jewellery worth Rs 0.5 million from the passengers. They also snatched Rs 30,000 from the conductor, said the driver.

A similar incident occurred on Monday when eleven dacoits hijacked a bus and killed Ghulam Hussain Qaiserani, a passenger going to Peshawar from Vohva. The dacoits also looted Rs 3.5 million from three traders, Javed Memon, Ishaq Bhai and Ashraf Ali, who were travelling on the bus.

The kidnappings occurred even though the Pakistan Rangers, Balochistan Levies, Frontier Corps, Border Military Police, Punjab Constabulary and the elite force were patrolling the area. People of the area held demonstrations to protest the police’s inability to arrest the culprits.

PONM to demonstrate in collaboration with Seraiki parties: Pakistan Oppressed Nations’ Movement (PONM) announced on Wednesday that it would launch demonstrations in Southern Punjab in collaboration with Seraiki organisations to protest the undeclared military operation in Balochistan.

The president of the Balochistan National Party, Dr Abdul Haye, MNA Abdul Rauf Mengal and Senator Sanaullah Baloch have reportedly asked Seraiki leaders to launch protests in collaboration with PONM.

The Baloch leaders have contacted the president of the Seraiki National Party, Abdul Majid Kanju, the president of the Seraikistan Qaumi Movement, Hameed Asghar Shaheen and other Seraiki leaders who have all promised cooperation for the protests, sources said.

However, Pakistan Seraiki Party (PSP) Chief Taj Muhammad Khan Langah and PSP Secretary General Mansoor Karim Siyal told reporters that the PSP had not been contacted by a ny Baloch parties.

Military operation in Balochistan a repetition of past mistakes: The president of the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP), Nawab Akbar Bugti declared on Wednesday that the military operation in Balochistan was “a repetition of past mistakes”.

“It seems as if we have not learnt a lesson from the East Pakistan Tragedy and are making the same mistakes 32 years later,” said Mr Bugti, talking to Marghoob Ali Khitran, a provincial Leader of JWP Punjab. “JWP is not secessionist, separatist or parochial but is simply a patriotic party that is demanding constitutional rights.”

He said that the resources of Balochistan were being “sold out” for the development of other provinces while Balochistan was still without electricity, natural gas and other facilities. Mr Bugti said that “normalcy and tranquillity” could not be restored in Balochistan unless “employment and other basic amenities” were provided to the Baloch.

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