FAISALABAD, April 2: Police have involved notables of two clans as well as senior politicians for the recovery of a schoolteacher, her husband and the daughter instead of taking a direct action against kidnappers under the law. Sources close to the victims’ family said on Sunday that the police team, headed by SHO Rana Umer Draz, met the accused and their elders along with members of the victim family. They said some politicians were also present in the meeting held at a village near Gojra tehsil of Toba Tek Singh district.

They said the police assured the accused that no legal action would be taken against them if Nafeesa, her husband Noor Ahmed and one-year-old daughter Amina were handed over to the police.

During the meeting, they said that police officials were seen handicapped as they failed to round up the accused.

Sources said that after hours long talks, all the three abducted persons were handed over to their relatives in the presence of policemen and notables of Dijkot and Gojra towns.

However, senior police officials and the SHO denied the recovery of couple and their minor daughter adding that the ‘search operation’ was on the final stage.

Refusing to make any comments on the case, Dijkot ASI Muhammad Afzal said that senior police officials were making efforts for recovering the kidnapped family.

However, he confirmed that notables and some politicians were tackling the issue with the help of police high-ups.

The police feared that if the cases were registered against both the families they would indulge in bloody clashes, which would deteriorate the situation.

Inquiries reveal that both the families belong to the Jat biradari. The abducted schoolteacher belongs to Hanjra sub-caste of the Jat biradari while the accused family belongs to the Sapra sub-caste.

Dijkot town and Gojra tehsil are known for bloody clashes and kidnapping among Jat families and years old rivalries are common feature of these towns.

Nafeesa, a girl of the Sapra family, had eloped with her lover Naveed a few years ago, but she was returned by panchayat without the registration of any case.

The girl married his lover, but her parents refused to accept it due to which she again left her house some months ago and had not so far been traced. The Sapra family on Saturday kidnapped Noor Ahmed, cousin of Naveed, his wife Nadeema Malik and daughter Amina and threatened to kill them if Nafeesa was not sent back to her home.

Meanwhile, colleagues of abducted Nadeema Malik and children of her school also staged a protest demonstration in Union Council No 149 and demanded that the police should recover the abducted family.