LAKKI MARWAT: Three workers of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) were kidnapped from the Bakkakhel area of Bannu, police said on Saturday.

Some unidentified arm­ed men intercepted the vehicle of SNGPL employees when they were going to the Syedgai area, a police official said.

The armed men took the workers along with their vehicle towards an unknown location, he added.

“A large police contingent immediately reached the area after the kidnapping and launched an op­­eration for the safe recovery of kidnapped workers,” the official claimed.

He said that all available resources and human intelligence were being uti­­lised to ensure safe re­­covery of the SNGPL employees and arrest of captors.

A video clip of the kidnapped workers also surfaced wherein a worker can be heard as saying that he, Inayat and Salim loaded diesel in the vehicle and were on the way to Syedgai area when armed men appeared, blindfolded them and kidnapped them. Four armed men wearing masks are also standing beh­i­­nd the abducted workers. “We don’t know where we have been kept,” a kidnapped worker said, requesting the government to accept the demands of kidnappers so to pave the way for their release.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2024