22 tribal elders arrested in SWA under FCR

No clue to kidnapped FDA workers

PESHAWAR: The political administration of South Waziristan Agency on Friday arrested around 22 tribal elders under the collective responsibility clause of the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) to put pressure on them and help release the eight workers of the Fata Development Authority (FDA), who were kidnapped in the volatile tribal region a day earlier.

Political Agent South Waziristan Zafar Islam ?said the FDA officials were on their way to inspect an under-construction dam in Dwa Thoi subdivision when they went missing. He said it appeared that some people had kidnapped all the eight FDA workers and shifted them to an unknown location, but was not clear which group of militants was behind the incident. There were reports that some low-level workers had been freed but government officials neither denied nor confirmed it. Political Agent Zafar Islam, who usually sits in his winter office in Tank district, has moved to Wana, the ?headquarters of South Waziristan on Friday where he convened meetings of tribal elders to ensure earlier and safe release of the FDA employees. An official of the political administration said they had arrested 22 tribal elders under territorial responsibility section of the FCR. Pleading anonymity, he said the FDA employees had been kidnapped from their soil and they were required to trace the kidnapped people and ensure their safe recovery as per local customs and traditions. He said all efforts to? trace the missing people remained fruitless. The FDA officials had gone from Peshawar and spent a night in Wana. They were on their way to Dwa Thoi ?to inspect an under-construction dam when they went missing and were apparently kidnapped.