ATTOCK, Sept 28: Gunmen kidnapped a Polish engineer after killing his security guard and two drivers near the Pind Sultani village of Jand tehsil in the NWFP on Sunday.

Police said engineer Peter Stanczak had arrived at the field camp of a national seismic survey company of Poland, about 20km from its main camp office in the jurisdiction of Basal police station, early in the morning.

Sources said three to four gunmen attacked the engineer’s jeep and killed Frontier Constabulary guard Muhammad Saleem, driver Anayatullah and assistant driver Riaz. Later, they captured the engineer and escaped.

Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Attock District Police Officer Muhammad Wisal Fakhar Sultan Raja, Regional Police Officer Nasir Khan Durrani and officials of other law-enforcement and intelligence agencies visited the camp of the Geofizvka Krakow oil company.

The bodies were taken to the tehsil headquarters hospital for post-mortem and later handed over to the company’s management.

Local people said that the engineer might have been taken to tribal areas near Kohat, about 25km from the camp.

Some officials said that the incident took place due to negligence of the company because its management did not follow security instructions.

Mr Durrani said it was strange that a foreign technician was sent to the field camp located in a deserted area early in the morning. The camp was without proper security arrangement.

Other police officials said that foreign companies conducting oil exploration and other activities in the district had been cautioned by the government a number of times to make proper security arrangements, particularly during their staff’s movement.

Mr Raja said that police were examining all aspects of the incident and trying to trace the outlaws.