KOHAT, April 8: Families of three members of a Tableeghi party kidnapped while returning from Miramshah five days ago have refused any government help for their release after establishing contact with the captors. They have also decided not to register any case in Kohat, where they belong, and are holding negotiations with the kidnappers who contacted them for ransom.

The families said they now knew the whereabouts of their kidnapped relatives and added that they were safe.

The three people, who had come to Miramshah from Raiwind, Lahore, for preaching and selecting members for abroad, had been kidnapped in the Baka Khel area of the Bannu district.

Their family members - Zikria Khan, owner of the Afridi Cloth House, Saeed, an education department official and Aamad, a tyre dealer – have asked the bazaar union not to issue any statement or hold protest, fearing that the kidnappers may cause harm to the hostages.

It was learnt that the families had also contacted the Taliban in North Waziristan to know if they had held their relatives hostage but they had denied their involvement in the case.

Political authorities in Miramshah and police in Bannu confirmed that the victims’ families had not contacted them for help and that they could not take any action on their own.