KOHAT, Oct 20: The political authorities of Darra Adamkhel, frontier region of Kohat have conducted raids for the recovery of a councillor and his friend kidnapped last Wednesday from their guava orchard in the jurisdiction of Cantonment area and taken away to the tribal belt which is only at a distance of five minutes walk from the scene of the crime.

The DSP Saddar, Mian Javed Younis, the investigations in charge, also raided the town of Jangle Khel and rounded up twenty suspicious people who were being interrogated. Illegal weapons from several houses have also been seized.

The investigation officer told Dawn that the kidnappers might have whisked away the victims from Darra Adamkhel to the inaccessible area of Orakzai Agency where consultations with the local tribal elders were underway to raid some parts.

Meanwhile, the councillors’ alliance has condemned the incident and alleged that the family of the victim had received a demand for Rs two million from the kidnappers but when Mr Mian Javed was contacted he did not confirm saying that if this was the case there was no need to conduct raids because in such situations the family starts negotiations with the criminals which had not been initiated so far, according to his information.

The councillor, Dildar Hussain and his friend Tariq were in their guava orchard in the evening on the O.T.S. Rad when some unidentified armed persons forced into the orchard and took them to the nearby Darra mountains.