PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa inspector general of police Nasir Khan Durrani on Monday claimed the ransom and extortion money collected in the province was being used for militant activities.

He was speaking at a special ceremony organised at the central police office here to distribute cash and commendation certificates to Karak and Tank police personnel over the recovery of three schoolchildren kidnapped in Bannu lately.

Among the policemen were inspector M Riaz, inspector Azmat, head constable Naseer Iqbal and constable Ibrahim from Karak and head constables Abdul Ghaffar, Tahir Habib and Shah Khalid from Tank.

The IGP praised the ‘professionalism, valour, strategy and timely action’ on the policemen, who recovered students, and said he hoped that they would continue with the excellent performance.

He said kidnappings for ransom and targeted killings were major issues facing the province.

Durrani said by and large, he was satisfied with the performance of the provincial police for successfully cracking down on target killers and extortionists.

He said the police were committed to checking targeted killings and kidnappings for ransom incidents in the province at all costs.

The IGP asked policemen to remain alert to prevent incidents of targeted killing and kidnapping for ransom.

In a statement issued here, a spokesman for the police said the kidnappers had demanded Rs90 million for the release of kidnapped students and the families were ready to pay Rs30 million ransom for their children’s release.

It said after an encounter, the police arrested a kidnapper and two targeted killers.

The statement said the gunmen had injured a SHO and his gunner by firing gunshots on a police mobile van and fled to FR Mulazai area.

It said the police trapped attackers and brought them back to the settled area before arresting them and seizing arms used in the attack.

PASSING OUT PARADE: The passing out parade of the 139th traffic training course was held at Malik Saad Shaheed Police Lines here on Monday.

AIG Training Abbas Majeed Marwat was the chief guest at the function, where SSP traffic Wahid Mehmood, Traffic Training School principal Rafiullah, DSP Rahim Hussain and senior police officials were in attendance.

Eighty-nine policemen participated in the three months long course.

The personnel were trained on traffic laws, motor vehicle ordinance, code of conduct, highway code, traffic lights and first aid.

Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2014