DERA ISMAIL KHAN: A senior army officer and his two brothers were kidnapped by suspected militants when they were meeting people on their father’s death in Dera Ismail Khan district, police confirmed on Wednesday.

The army officer and his two brothers — one serving in the Cantonment Board Head Office, Rawalpindi, and the other working for the National Database and Registration Authrity (Nadra) — were in a mosque in Mohalla Khadr Khel of Kalachi tehsil receiving people, who had come to condole their father’s demise, when suspected militants came and forcefully took them away.

The three officers had come to their ancestral area for funeral prayer of their father that was offered on Tuesday.

While Kulachi police confirmed the incident, higher police authorities neither confirmed nor denied it.

On August 1, the van of a private security company, carrying Rs40 million, was hijacked by armed suspects within the limits of the Hathala police station in the Kulachi area.

The hostages, including guards, driver and crew were later released while the van was set on fire. The robbers fled with the cash.

On April 27, District and Sessions Judge South Waziristan Shakir Ullah Marwat was abducted from Dera Ismail Khan-Tank Road near the Kulachi area. However, he returned home soon after the incident.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2024