PESHAWAR, April 10: The police and political administration of tribal areas have failed to check the increasing kidnappings for ransom in the province.

Kidnappers in almost all the cases reported so far took their victims straight to the tribal areas and, in none of the recently-reported incidents, they faced any resistance from the Khasadar force and levies at checkpoints established on all the routes leading to the tribal areas.

Sources told Dawn here on Thursday that Barakai tehsil of Khyber Agency was a safe haven for abductors, therefore the abducted persons were kept there.

A sub-clan of Orakzai Tribe, Storikhel, is settled in the area which is supposed to a refuge of the kidnappers.

During an investigation into various cases, police officials said, it was found out that kidnappers after picking up people sold them out to other persons who brought the victims blindfold to Barakai — an area between the mountains of Orakzai and Khyber agencies. And later their families were contacted to demand ransom, they added.

Surprisingly, in most of the kidnappings, families do not register FIRs fearing that abductors may harm victims if police are involved.

Two months ago, president of a local contractor’s association, Abdus Sattar Khan Mohmand, was kidnapped from Badheber area. But his son, Shahid Khan, did not register an FIR as he did not want to involve police in the case.

The sources claimed that Mr Sattar was kept at the same notorious Barakai area and was freed after his family paid a Rs3.2 millions ransom.

On April 7, police arrested alleged kidnapper Nauroz, son of Shamroz, who confessed to have abducted Abdus Sattar. But the sources said that he was made to confess by torture and the real kidnappers were at large in the Barakai area bordering Afghanistan.

On Jan 6, Ismail Yousuf, 13, was kidnapped and reportedly sold out to Mir Owais, a nephew of Jan Storikhel, in the Barakai area. But the political administration, despite sending a tribal jirga of Afridis, failed to get released Ismail Yousuf.

Though police on Feb 8, arrested an alleged kidnapper, Dunya Khan, son of Khayal, of Zakhakhel after a two-hours encounter. During interrogations, he confessed the crime, but both the political administration and police failed to recover Ismail Yousuf.

Even last year, Dr Inayat Roghani, associate professor and in-charge of radiology section of Hayatabad Medical Complex, was kidnapped and kept in the same tribal belt.

But his family did not report the case to the police and paid huge ransom for his release.