KOHAT, Sept 3 Twenty-five cadets of the Police Training College in Hangu were kidnapped when they were returning to the college after vacation on Wednesday.

Provincial police chief Malak Naveed told Dawn that the trainee constables and head constables were coming to Hangu via Bara in three coaches. When they reached a place between Aurakzai and Khyber agencies, armed militants intercepted the vehicles and took them away. They later freed the drivers.

Officials said that the incident was reported in the afternoon when they were waiting for the cadets. After counting in the evening, more than 250 cadets were found absent. The college authorities called the cadets' families and found that 25 of them who had left their homes did not reach the college.Sources said that the other cadets had not left their homes because of the closure of roads and some other reasons.

They said the cadets, mostly from Swat, Malakand and other areas, had hired the vehicles and chosen the Khyber route due to the closure of Kohat tunnel.