PESHAWAR, March 12: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday expressed anger at the Wapda’s indifference towards the kidnapping of its eight employees working on Gomal Zam dam project and summoned its member (finance) to appear before it on April 2 for explanation.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan and Justice Irshad Qaiser directed the member (finance) of Wapda to appear in person on April 2, warning if he didn’t do so, then the federal accountant general should withhold his salary until the court issued a clearance certificate to him.

It also directed other officials, including the political agents of North and South Waziristan tribal regions and the secretary, law and order, Fata secretariat to expedite their efforts for the recovery of the kidnapped officials.

When the bench took up for hearing the legal adviser of Fata Secretariat, Malik Mujtaba, said six suspects were arrested in tribal areas in connection with the said case whereas efforts were underway to nab more suspects.

Additional secretary of Fata Secretariat Riaz Mehsud said in accordance with an earlier order of the court, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor had taken notice of the issue and issued directives to his inspection team and the law and order secretary.

He added that a camp office was set up in Bannu for coordination between the secretary, commissioner Bannu and political agents of the two agencies. Mr Mehsud said the governor had ordered an inquiry to ascertain how the Wapda employees were kidnapped in South Waziristan and then shifted to North Waziristan without catching the attention of law-enforcement agencies.

Political Agent of South Waziristan Shahidullah Khan informed the court that his administration had been taking concrete steps for early, safe recovery of employees. The chief justice observed that for the last three hearings, he had been offering the same statement without the noteworthy progress.

When the bench inquired about the absence of Wapda chief security officer Colonel Mateen, another official said he had gone to Hyderabad on official duty.

It expressed annoyance over his continuous absence and directed him to appear on the next hearing.

The bench regretted that right from the beginning of the case, Wapda had been taking least interest in the recovery of its employees and except one of the occasion, it had been deputed junior officers for court proceedings.

During one of the previous hearings, the court had said militants had been demanding a ransom of Rs150 million along with release of 17 colleagues.

The relatives of the kidnapped employees had sent an application to the chief justice a few weeks ago that was converted into a writ petition.

The workers were on the way to Tank district from the dam site in South Waziristan on August 15 when they were taken away by kidnappers, who later turned out to be militants.

Later, militants released two video footages showing eight employees pleading the government to fulfil the demands of kidnappers.

The kidnapped men include engineer Shahid Ali Khan, mechanical supervisor Sanaullah, cook Munir Khan, driver Siraj, sanitation worker Liaquat Khan and three daily wagers Zeeshan, Zujaj and Siraj.