27 January 2004	Tuesday	04 Zilhaj 1424

PESHAWAR, Jan 26: About 140 schoolchildren were allegedly kidnapped and held hostage for around four hours by a local council Nazim here on Monday. Talking to newsmen after their release , the terrified students and officials of the Warsak Public School claimed two buses carrying children were hijacked by gunmen soon after they left the school in the afternoon. The gunmen forced the drivers to take the buses to the Hujra of Misri Khan, a local council Nazim.

"Three armed men entered our bus as soon it left the school. They held us at gunpoint and beat the driver," said a 12-year-old student, Rashid Minhas. One of the drivers, Ali Mas Khan, said he was slapped by one of the armed men and was asked to take the bus to the Hujra of Misri Khan.

The students said they were herded into the Hujra and made to sit on the floor while armed men stood guard. "We could not resist the orders as those men were armed with Kalashnikovs," said a student.

He said most of the students were in the age group of eight to 16 years.The students said after around four hours they were allowed to leave. School Director Noorul Qudoos told reporters on this occasion that three students were still in the Nazim's custody. They were identified by their colleagues as Irfan Saifullah (10th class), Shakeel Ahmad (9th class) and Shahzaib (8th class).

The director said the Nazim believed that relatives of these three students were involved in the alleged abduction of Nazim's nephew. Noorul Qudoos said the police also visited the area but no action was taken against the Nazim.

Mr Qudoos alleged that the Nazim was involved in the smuggling of cattle to the tribal areas and Afghanistan. He said some tribesmen had held a man of the Nazim's group and some cattlehead at Mechani village in the Mohmand Agency.

He said that he informed the SHO of Mathra police station about the incident, but the SHO was himself involved in the kidnapping. "Three of our students are still in the custody of the Nazim and we are worried about their security," the director said and demanded of the higher authorities to look into the matter.

The local police, however, have denied the incident, stating that the students were not abducted. An official of the Mathra police station, in whose jurisdiction the incident took place, said the school administration was exaggerating the matter.

Area people claimed the Nazim had kidnapped the students in retaliation to the abduction of three people in the nearby tribal area. They claimed that as most of the children in the two school buses belonged to that area, in a tit-for-tat response the Nazim took away the students.

PROTEST: Later, students of the Warsak Public School staged a protest rally in front of the Chief Minister's House against their alleged abduction.They claimed that Nazim of Union Council Garhi Sherdad, Misri Khan, kidnapped them at gunpoint and confined them in his Hujra in the presence of Mathra police station SHO. A school teachers on this occasion said the SHO of the Mathra police station and a police party were also present at the Hujra.