PESHAWAR: Local police have failed to get clues about the Wapda employees kidnapped from Shaikh Mohammadi grid station after an attack early on Tuesday.

However, they said to have found a clue about involvement of insiders in the act of terrorism.

An official of the rural circle police station said police wanted to carry out search operation in the rural area against miscreants but they lacked resources and could not continue the process round the clock to plug all entry points.

The official said the rural circle was so vast that it was not the job of a single SP and the area needed to be divided into two circles.

“How will the single SP reach Mattani and then Khazana area if sabotage acts take place at the same time because both the areas are located in rural circle and are at a long distance,” he asked.

The official said militants had changed the methods of attacking, and patrolling at nighttime was meant to take risk.

He said Bara area was located at short distance from Badbher but police were not sure where kidnapped people had been kept.

“They have informers in all localities and it is very easy for them to keep kidnappers even in Peshawar,” he said.

The official said it appeared that someone inside the station had helped attackers.

SP (rural) Mohammad Javed Khan could not be contacted for comments.

However, investigation officer Bahadur Khan said police had got some ideas that attackers were facilitated by people inside the grid station.

“No security guards had offered resistance and attackers had entered the building through backside who broke the boundary wall after accomplishing their mission. It seems that they remained inside the station for around two hours and then went in the agriculture fields instead of using vehicles,” the official said.

He said personnel of anti-terrorist squad had been deployed at the grid station with heavy weapons and that in future, no one would be able to enter the station so easily.

Mr Javed said the investigation process was underway and information could not be shared at the movement, saying that the eyewitness had been killed and kidnapped and thus police face problems to reach the attackers.

About initial investigation, he said the sensitive installations had been destroyed so technically as if they were experts.

“The bomb blasts show that they are experts and know all methods to destroy something. The heavy power transformers have been damaged through explosives where on explosive did not explode and the Bomb Disposal Unit defused it,” he said.

The official said one of the transformers cost Rs1.2 billion and that only the repair work would need one billion rupees, while the new machinery would cost much more.

Meanwhile, senior police officials on Thursday visited the grid station and examined how miscreants entered and carried out the operation.

Also, Pesco Chief Executive Tariq Saddozai visited the 500 KV grid station and inspected the damages.

NTDC Chief Engineer Saeedullah Babar was also present on the occasion. According to Pesco spokesman Shaukat Afzal, the officials said Rs one million will be given to the family of each deceased immediately, while employment will be given to one legal heir of each of the victims.

The NTDC chief engineer also announced that Rs0.5 million will be given to deceased policemen, in addition to compensation given to them by the parent department.

Prior to that, the union representatives of the employees gave an ultimatum of three days to the management to recover the abducted employees and security of the grids to be given to Army or FC, otherwise the power supply will be switched off to the entire province.

The Pesco chief and NTDC chief engineer said deployment of FC or army was not in their jurisdiction and they would contact the relevant authorities for the purpose.

They also offered fateha for the slain employees.

Mr Sadozai promised his full co-operation and said safe recovery of abducted employees was his top priority and hectic efforts were made for the purpose.

He said restoration and rehabilitation work had been begun on the grid.

“Only routine loadshedding is being carried out in the province,” he said.