PESHAWAR, Nov 6 An anti-terrorism court here on Thursday indicted two Afghans for kidnapping a brigadier for ransom here a few months ago.

The court presided over by Shamsher Ali Khan fixed Nov 22 for the next hearing and summoned 11 prosecution witnesses for that date.

The two accused Shah Wali and Abdul Wali, both Afghan nationals residing at Bakshi Pull area pleaded not guilty to the charge and decided to stand trial.

The abducted army official, Allah Bakhsh, is stated to be the deputy medical superintendent of the Combined Military Hospital in Peshawar.

The official was allegedly kidnapped on June 22, 2008, in the jurisdiction of Pahari Pura police station.

The army official was later on set free after payment of ransom of Rs1.7 million.

The accused were later on arrested by the police and identified by the kidnapped official.

It is learnt that neither the kidnappers knew that the kidnapped person was an army official nor he disclosed his identity in captivity. When he was kidnapped he was in plain clothes.

KIDNAPPERS HELD Three alleged kidnappers were arrested by the local police after their pre-arrest bail petition was dismissed by the anti-terrorism court here on Thursday. The accused Hazrat Ali, Daulat Khan alias Pehlawan and Kamran, residents of Kotli Kalan in Cherat claimed that they were innocent and falsely implicated in the case.

The accused were charged with kidnapping two persons, Naek Muhammad and Raees, both residents of Pabbi in Noswhera District on April 15, 2008. The kidnapped persons were released after paying ransom of Rs350,000.

The special public prosecutor, Jehanzeb Khan, appeared for state and contended that the accused petitioners were directly charged by the kidnapped persons.

He added that keeping in view the evidence on record the three accused were not entitled to the concession of pre-arrest bail.