QUETTA, Feb 10: Three people, among them an eight-year-old boy, kidnapped for ransom from Loralai, have been recovered by Levies Force with the help of Frontier Corps.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Home Secretary Nasibullah Bazai said that Levies and FC personnel conducted a joint operation in Gulistan area of Qilla Abdullah district and freed Asmatullah, Habibullah and eight-year-old Subhan from the captivity of a gang led by Barat Khan alias Barati Ghaibzai.

Frontier Corps DIG Brigadier Shahzad Akhtar and Quetta Commissioner Nasim Lehri were present on the occasion.

Mr Bazai said that no member of the kidnappers’ gang could be arrested during the operation carried out in Nuorak Suleman Khel area of Gulistan, adding the action continued for two days.

The home secretary said the kidnappers released the hostages after an exchange of fire.

He said that kidnappers, led by one Barat Khan, had demanded an amount of Rs10 million for releasing the boy.

Claiming progress in the missing persons’ case, he said that of the 148 people disappeared they had recovered 59. “The bodies of 16 others have been found,” he added.

He said action would be taken against the owners of vehicles with tinted glasses.

About the kidnapped doctor associated with the International Committee of the Red Cross, he said they were in touch with the ICRC officials and offered them security during their movement in the province.

BOMB BLAST: A man was killed and another injured when a bomb planted in a donkey cart exploded in Khuzdar on Friday.

A police official said the man on the donkey cart, identified as Mohammad Ibrahim Samalani, was killed in the blast.

Sources said the target might be a security check-post located about half a kilometre from the explosion site.

The man injured in the blast was a passer-by, identified as Ghulam Qadir Sasoli.

KIDNAPPED: Two policemen were kidnapped along with their official weapons from a check-post in Jaffarabad district on Friday.

Sources said that head constable Karim Bakhsh and constable Lashkar Khan were posted at the Nasibullah check-post in Sohbatpur area of the district.