HYDERABAD, Feb 5: As a police operation to free six kidnapped people continued in three districts, two more persons were kidnapped from Gadap town of Karachi, raising the number of kidnapped persons to eight.

Police sources in Karachi and Hyderabad said that the latest kidnappings took place three to four days back when Maula Bux, cousin of former MPA Abdul Hakeem Baloch, and one Shahban were kidnapped from the jurisdiction of Gadap police station.

Their whereabouts remained unknown.

Initially, Hyderabad, Matiari and Jamshoro police launched the operation for the recovery of 11 persons, kidnapped from Karachi in November and December 2005.

Two of the hostages, Mushtaq Sarki and Majid, reached home on the eve of Eid-ul-Azha while three more hostages were recovered following a successful operation, conducted by the Hyderabad police led by additional DPO Pervez Chandio.

The three hostages included Mohammad Faisal Qureshi, associated with a seafood business, Majid Zaidi, a builder and Tausif Qureshi, an electronics shop owner. They were kidnapped on December 9, 15 and January 1, respectively.

They were recovered from the Khat Lashkar village of Khairpur Nathan Shah, Dadu district.

The family members of the two recently kidnapped persons had not received any ransom call.

Four out of six hostages who are yet to be recovered, again belong to Gadap area.

A Hyderabad police source said that the Citizen Police Liaison Committee was not sharing information of the two recent kidnappings.