Slug: di-khan-17-sugar-mill-workers-abducted

Category: National

Focus keyphrase: DI Khan sugar mill workers abduction

SEO title: 17 Sugar Mill Workers Abducted in DI Khan, Search On

Meta description: 17 sugar mill workers were abducted in DI Khan after armed men stopped two buses on the Indus Highway; five passengers were later freed.

Tags: DI Khan, abduction, sugar mill workers, Indus Highway, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Paroa, police operation

Original element: explainer context — our own prior DI Khan security coverage (the October 6 killing of four FBR personnel and a policeman) as the local pattern this latest abduction fits into.

17 Sugar Mill Workers Abducted in DI Khan; Search Operation Underway

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: At least 17 sugar mill workers remained missing late on Wednesday after unidentified armed men abducted passengers and workers from a passenger coach and a sugar mill bus near Cheera Minor on the Indus Highway in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan, while several passengers were released.

The incident took place on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday within the jurisdiction of Paroa Police Station. Armed men intercepted a coach travelling from Dera Ghazi Khan to Rawalpindi and took several passengers away. Reports also emerged that security guards travelling in a sugar mill bus were abducted.

Five passengers released after four-hour walk

Five passengers — identified as Arsalan, Majid, Kashif, Shiraz and Hammad — who had been taken from the Hassan Coach were subsequently released, according to sources. The released passengers said they walked for approximately four hours to reach their destination.

However, the 17 sugar mill workers remained missing, prompting residents to take to the streets and block traffic on the Indus Highway in protest.

Protest blocks Indus Highway

Residents staged a protest at Paroa Adda, blocking the main Indus Highway to demand the safe recovery of the missing workers. The blockade disrupted one of the region’s busiest transport arteries as families of the missing workers waited for word on their fate.

The incident has triggered fear and panic in the area, while the families of the missing workers remain deeply distressed over the fate of their loved ones.

Police operation underway

Police said an operation was underway to recover the abducted persons and that several teams had been formed for the purpose. No group had claimed responsibility for the abduction at the time of reporting, and the motive remained unclear.

The Indus Highway is one of the main arteries linking Punjab with the southern districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and attacks on travellers along it have become a recurring concern. The same report noted a separate recent case in which armed men abducted 20 trainee police personnel travelling from Kalat to Nushki, according to officials cited by the Tribune — a reminder that highway abductions are not confined to one province.

DI Khan’s troubled security pattern

The abduction is the latest in a series of violent incidents in the district. Earlier this month, Feature Pakistan reported that four FBR personnel and a policeman were killed in firing incidents in DI Khan, underlining the persistent security challenges in the southern districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The province has seen repeated militant activity in recent weeks. The suspected mastermind of the Kohat Police Lines mosque blast was killed in a CTD operation in Lakki Marwat, while police in the tribal districts have moved to reassure residents after unrest in Bara.

The security crisis is unfolding alongside a political one: K-P has been under governor’s rule since October 11, after the Senate endorsed the emergency resolution by majority vote amid opposition protest. In a separate incident this week, the Peshawar High Court stayed the arrest of the KP Assembly deputy speaker and ordered his official residence de-sealed, as the courts continue to weigh in on the province’s unfolding situation.

The Express Tribune reported the abduction late on Wednesday night. Police officials said updates on the recovery operation would follow as the search continued.