RAWALPINDI: Abduction threats to faculty members of two government primary schools in Rawalpindi, and the ensuing police presence there, have led to a number of students leaving school as well as a drop in enrolments.

“Students and parents have been frightened since they saw police at the schools and learnt that children had been threatened with abduction,” Haroon Yousuf, the principal of a boys’ primary school, said.

The two schools receiving these threats are located near the local police station, and police personnel have started visiting the school.

Over 15 students have already left the schools, and there have been no new enrolments.

He said no threatening phone calls had been received in since 10pm to 11pm on Sunday, but his wife – who is also a teacher at a government girls’ school and received threatening phone calls on her mobile phone – was distressed every time her phone rang.

The couple have been receiving calls threatening abduction of their students for the last month. They turned to the police on August 30, after the caller once again threatened to kidnap schoolchildren.

“The caller hasn’t demanded any ransom or linked himself to any banned outfit. He only threatened to kidnap children,” Mr Yousuf said. He added that the last threatening phone call was received on September 4, during which the caller spoke a few words of English, Urdu and Pashto.

“While he was talking I could hear children screaming in the background. It seemed he was trying to demoralise me or tell me he was already holding children,” Mr Yousuf claimed. He quoted the caller as saying: “Don’t worry – I will do what I have intended to do.”

The principal said despite his having brought the matter to concerned officials from the education department, there has been no response from them so far.

Police have regularly visited the school during the day, as have Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) officials, to reassure students and parents.

The investigating police officer told Dawn he is waiting for mobile phone call data, which he believes will be available on Wednesday, to start tracing links to the suspect making the phone calls.

“Parents and the school administration have asked us not to deploy police at the schools because their presence causes panic, but we cannot take any chances, particularly where children are involved,” he said.

He said the caller appeared to be changing locations; sometimes the calls originated in Afghanistan, sometimes in Karak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and sometimes in Peshawar.

Published in Dawn September 7th, 2016