RAWALPINDI: A police team on Thursday visited the two government primary schools which received abduction threats regarding their students and reviewed their security measures.

The principle of a boys’ school, Haroon Yousuf and his wife, who teaches at a girls’ school turned to the police on Wednesday after a caller threatened to abduct students from their schools. In the most recent call, the girls’ school teacher said the caller could not speak proper Urdu and has asked her to speak in Pashto. He had asked her about the number of students in the school.

She also received a ‘missed call’ from the same number on Wednesday.

The police told the teacher to call back on the number she was receiving calls from, but the person on the other end told her not to talk to him as he could not speak Urdu well.

The police believe the callers must have links and contacts in Rawalpindi and are trying to track them down as well.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the SIM being used by the caller was issued on fake details to a resident of Karak, who was also approached by the police.

“The location of the caller who is threatening the schools’ administrations with kidnapping their students has been traced to Ganda Mahbis Khail, near the border between Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran,” the police investigating officer told Dawn.

The police said that though it was possible for them to go to Afghanistan in order to track down the callers, the case will be handed over to the intelligence agencies, who will also trace the caller’s contacts in Pakistan.

Mr Yousuf told Dawn that a police had come to review the security arrangements at the school, which is located about a kilometre and a half from the police station.

He said the police had assured him that they had increased patrolling in the area and had enhanced security measures.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2016