Twenty Kalat police recruits abducted by unidentified armed men in Balochistan last week have been recovered safely, officials told Dawn on Tuesday.
The recruits, who were undergoing training at the Kalat Police Training Centre, were recovered from the Mangochar area of Kalat district. A senior police officer told Dawn that “all personnel are safe and sound”.
The trainees were heading home for the weekend when armed men intercepted their private van on the Quetta-Karachi Highway. The attackers took the recruits to an undisclosed location while releasing the driver and three other civilian passengers.
Kalat police recruits were former Levies personnel
The abducted men were former Levies Force personnel who joined the police after the merger of the two forces. They belonged to the Rakhshan division of Balochistan and were travelling from Kalat towards Noshki for their weekly leave when gunmen on motorcycles stopped the van.
According to officials who spoke to The Express Tribune earlier, the recruits included eight personnel from Kharan, five from Noshki, four from Chagai and three from Washuk. The attackers reportedly identified the police personnel in the van and took only them, leaving the civilians behind.
Security forces had launched a search operation in the nearby mountains to trace the recruits. No group has claimed responsibility for the abduction.
The abduction came on a bloody weekend for Balochistan police. On the same day the recruits were taken, two constables, Ahmed Lashari and Malik Bugti, were gunned down near Bedar Bridge in Nasirabad district while patrolling the Pat Feeder area on motorcycles. The attackers took their official weapons before fleeing. Family members of the slain policemen blocked the Quetta-Sukkur Highway in protest, demanding the arrest of those involved.
Attacks on police in the province have been frequent. In July, militants struck at least three locations, including a checkpoint at Mangi Dam in Ziarat where 27 police personnel were killed. Last month, security forces killed five terrorists who had abducted 23 people from a highway checkpoint in Kalat and recovered the hostages safely.
The recovery follows a string of intelligence-based operations across Balochistan, where security forces have stepped up action against militant hideouts in recent weeks.
A pattern of abductions
The incident was the latest in a series of kidnappings targeting government personnel in Balochistan. A day before the recruits were taken, Rakhshan Division Commissioner Asad Ullah Kakar was seized in Kharan district along with his driver. Both remain missing.
Two weeks earlier, Kharan Deputy Commissioner Munir Ahmed Soomro walked free on October 3 after nearly two weeks in captivity, released after tribal elders negotiated with his captors.
On Sunday, at least 18 mine workers were abducted after armed men attacked a marble mining site in the Naal area of Khuzdar district. No group has claimed responsibility for that attack either.
Counterterrorism officials killed 10 militants in an intelligence-based operation in Barkhan earlier this month, part of the ongoing Operation Radd-ul-Fitna-3.
Quetta has meanwhile rolled out a 2,900-camera surveillance network to strengthen security in the provincial capital.
Who were the abducted recruits?
They were former Levies Force personnel, now serving with the police after the forces merged, who were still in training at the Kalat Police Training Centre. All 20 belonged to Balochistan’s Rakhshan division.
Where were they found?
Officials said the recruits were recovered from the Mangochar area of Kalat district. They had been taken from the Quetta-Karachi Highway while travelling in a private van.
Has anyone claimed responsibility?
No. No armed group has publicly claimed the abduction, and the identity and motives of the kidnappers remain unknown.
*Sources: Dawn, The Express Tribune*
