PESHAWAR, March 4: Lakshan Bibi, an NGO operator in Chitral district, who was kidnapped at gunpoint on Thursday from Warsak Road, has secured her freedom by paying Rs one million as ransom to her four kidnappers here on Saturday.

Speaking at a news conference, flanked by nazim union council of Ramboor Valley Behram Shah and MNA Abdul Akbar Chitrali, here at the Peshawar Press Club, Ms Lakshan demanded of the provincial government to provide her protection at the hands of kidnappers. She said her family members residing in Ramboor and Peshawar were afraid after her kidnapping by Safdar Khan and his three accomplices in Peshawar two days ago.

Lakshan Bibi, who is operating the Kailash Indigenous Survival Project (KISP, an NGO working for the uplift of Kailash people, had come from Islamabad to attend a meeting at the office of the Chief Conservator of NWFP at the Warsak Road on Thursday. After the meeting, she was about to leave for Islamabad at 3.30pm, when the alleged kidnappers intercepted her rented car, forced her out of it, kidnapped her on the gunpoint and sped away.

She denied that she was wife of the main accused, Safdar Khan, because she was not a Muslim. “I belong to a minority ethnic Kailash group, which has been residing in Chitral valley for centuries. It is not fair to dub me as the wife of a Muslim. The Kailash known as kafir are alien to nikah papers, fraudulently produced by the accused, Safdar,” she added.

She said she had to pay one million rupees to the kidnapper to get her released from the frightening captors. Lakshan Bibi said the kidnappers beat her, when they dragged her and threw her in their vehicle. She repeatedly asked the government to provide her protection, as she was a woman and belonging to a minority ethnic group. She lauded the efforts made by the Chitral MNA, nazims of union councils, representing Kailash people, and Peshawar police, who managed her freedom within two days.

Speaking on the occasion area MNA, Abdul Akbar Chitrali, said it was his duty to fight for the rights of his people and provide them security. Soon after the disappearance of Lakshan Bibi, he contacted the high officials and asked them for early recovery of Ms Lakshan.

Behram Shah, union council nazim of Ramboor, also demanded of the NWFP government to provide protection to the minority Kailash people, who were on the verge of extinction owing to the natural and man-made threats.