QUETTA: The Balochistan wing of the Awami National Party and the Kasi tribe have demanded of the government to immediately recover Nawab Arbab Zahir Kasi who was kidnapped recently.

They said on Tuesday the government would be held responsible if Mr Kasi was harmed in any way.

The protesters tried to march on the Chief Minister House but security personnel stopped their procession when it reached near the Hockey Ground roundabout.

The organisers then decided to turn their rally into a public meeting.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Inayatullah Khan and Jabbar Khan of the ANP, Jaffar Khan Mandokhel of the PML-Q and revenue minister, Majeed Kakar of the BNP-M, Reza Wakil of Hazara Democratic Party, Malik Zakirya Kasi of the PTI, Maulana Mahmoodul Hasan of the JUI (Ideological), Dr Haqdad Tareen, chairman, steering committee of the PMA, Malik Bilal Kasi of the Balochistan Bar Association, Zubair Shah of the Pakhtun Students Federation, and Arbab Muhammad Hashim, an elder of the Kasi tribe, lambasted the government and police for failing to stop kidnapping of people for ransom.

Mr Kasi was kidnapped six days ago, on the 23rd of this month but the administration had failed to trace the whereabouts of abductors, they said, adding that this attitude reflected badly on the public and encouraged the criminals to carry on with their activities without hindrance.

Speakers stated that Balochistan, particularly Quetta had become a commercially beneficial target for criminals because of the frequency in abduction of doctors, professors, lawyers, tribal elders and businessmen for ransom.

They cautioned that the trend of kidnappings, if continued, would push the province towards a civil war which may not be in the interest of the nation.

Had the government taken strict action, the culprits would not have gone to this extent, speakers asserted.

Umar Farooq Kasi filed a petition in the Balochistan High Court on Tuesday seeking justice in early recovery of his father, Nawab Zahir Arbab Kasi. The petition was submitted to the registrar.