LAKKI MARWAT: Three employees of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) have been abducted in the Bakkakhel area of ​​Bannu, police said on Saturday.

A police official said some unidentified armed men intercepted the vehicle of SNGPL employees when they were heading towards Syedgai area.

The armed men took the workers in their vehicle to an unknown location, he added.

“A large police contingent arrived immediately after the abduction and launched an operation to safely recover the abducted workers,” the official claimed.

He said all available resources and human intelligence were being deployed to ensure the safe release of the SNGPL workers and the arrest of the kidnappers.

A video clip of the abducted workers has also surfaced in which a worker can be heard saying that he, Inayat and Salim loaded diesel into the vehicle and were heading towards Syedgai area when gunmen appeared, blindfolded them and abducted them. Four gunmen wearing masks are also seen standing behind the abducted workers. “We don’t know where we have been held,” said a kidnapped worker, who requested the government to accept the kidnappers’ demands to pave the way for their release.

Published in Dawn, August 25, 2024