LARKANA, Feb 2: Bowing to police “pressure”, bandits released Dr Abdul Rab Sangi and his driver Wajid Sangi in Garhi Yasin area late on Wednesday night after keeping them in captivity for more than two months, according to police.

Dr Sangi and his driver were kidnapped on Nov 22 last year near Arija while performing duties during an anti-polio campaign in the area. The Pakistan Medical Association and Chandka Teachers Association had been protesting against the kidnapping since the doctor’s abduction by boycotting OPDs and observing two-hour token hunger strike.

The kidnappers had called Prof (Redt) Mohammad Siddique Sangi, father of Dr Sangi, and demanded Rs4 million ransom for his son’s release but he declined and told them he had no money to meet their demand.

Dr Sangi’s relatives told Dawn that police tracked down the gang’s location through the mobile SIM they used to call the hostage’s family. They started the ransom from Rs5 million and then brought it down to Rs4 million, they said.

Dr Sangi told journalists at his house here on Thursday that they had been kept at one place but sources said the hostages changed hands of a number of kidnappers’ gangs and finally they were with the gang of Gulbahar Mugheri who operated in Qambar-Shahdadkot district.

Dr Sangi said that it was his maiden duty in the village when he was kidnapped and in future he would preferably remain in the city. But kidnappings could also happen in the city because the kidnappers knew how to operate and where to strike, he said.

He said that Executive District Officer Health Dr Abdul Fatah Bughio had assured him of posting him in the city, he said. “I will take rest first for a few days and then decide about my job,” he said.

Dr Sangi said the kidnappers seldom talked to them, kept them blindfolded in chains in an underground trench. “I don’t know and have no idea where we were kept,” he said.

“They gave us meal only in the night. We never demanded more out of fear and they never offered more. They would give us only a plastic bottle of water for 24 hours,” he said.

When asked how did they reach home, Dr Sangi said that he could not say how. Their abductors forced them to walk barefoot for miles before letting them go, he said.

But according to police, Dr Sangi and his driver were recovered from Garhi Yasin area where kidnappers released them after police mounted pressure on them.

The office-bearers of PMA and CTA Dr Afsar Bhutto, Dr Badar Junejo, Dr Saeed Memon and Dr Akbar Soomro thanked all people who extended cooperation during struggle for getting Dr Sangi and his driver released.