KHYBER: The main Peshawar-Torkham Highway remained blocked for the second consecutive day on Saturday as protesters refused to end their protest till the recovery of an abducted local trader.

Unidentified persons abducted Lal Zareef alias Haji Landai on Friday morning when stepped out of his home in Landi Kotal. Police said that they had registered a case against the unidentified abductors, but the whereabouts of the missing trader could not be found yet or the reasons behind his kidnapping.

Residents had blocked the road at Charwazgai on Friday afternoon while demanding an early recovery of the abducted elderly trader.

Scores of political parties’ workers and members of civil society organisations along with family members of the trader were present at the road blockade site.

They expressed their concern over the disappearance of the trader and said that such incidents were unacceptable to them.

They said that the abduction of a trader in broad daylight was a serious question over the efficiency of the law-enforcement agencies while the police had failed to find any clue to the abduction.

They said that the road blockade would continue till the recovery of the trader. The road blockade also temporarily suspended the repatriation of Afghans via the Torkham Border.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2026