MIRAMSHAH, Dec 29: Hurmaz tribesmen demonstrated in the Mirali town and called for the release of kidnapped journalist Hayatullah Khan, missing for the past 27 days. Protestors included elders and elites of the Hurmaz tribe. They accused that the kidnapped journalist was in the custody of government agencies.

They fired aerial shots and set Jan 3 deadline for the journalist’s release and threatened of more demonstrations if he was not released by then. They said they would devise a strategy for securing his release on Jan 3.

Hayatullah Khan belongs to the Hurmaz tribe. He was kidnapped by gunmen while he was going to cover a students’ demonstration near the Mirali town on Dec 2.

Meanwhile, the beheaded body of an Afghan man, Tor Sulemankhel Koochi, was found from a deserted place in the Mirali town on Wednesday.

A chit was also found near the body, which purportedly said that a similar fate awaited anyone who spied for the Jews or the Americans. Authorities took the body to the agency headquarters Miramshah and buried it in the town committee graveyard.

In an attack, a lance-naik of the Kurram Militia, Haider Zaman, was shot dead near the Mirali town on Wednesday.

In a related development, political authorities raided the house of Mr Zahideen in the Kazha Madakhel area and arrested two men.