LAKKI MARWAT, March 30: Armed men kidnapped a renowned religious leader hailing from the Tajbikhel Bhetanni tribe, reliable sources said on Thursday. Maulana Mohammad Zahir Shah was taken away from his home near the Tajori police station on Thursday morning by the armed men who told him that he was needed to pray for recovery of some sick people, the sources said.

The sources said that the Maulana never returned to his home.

"The disappearance of Zahir Shah strengthens speculations that he has been kidnapped," the sources said.

They alleged that the Pakistani Taliban of Janikhel

Wazir locality might be involved in Maulana Zahir’s kidnapping.

They said that Maulana Zahir was severely criticised by different circles in the past for what was described as his provocative and derogatory speeches.

The district police officer, Lakki, Mohammad Yameen Khan, said that talks between the elders of Tajbikhel and Janikhel Wazir tribes were going on to ensure the Maulana’s release.

The district police officer said that so far the relatives of the kidnapped religious leader had not approached the Tajori police for registration of an FIR and naming the persons involved in his kidnapping.

The district police officer said that the police had registred an FIR on their own.

He said that the police would launch a crackdown soon after the nomination of the accused in the FIR.