DERA ISMAIL KHAN / PESHAWAR: The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) reported to Dawn that Shakirullah Marwat, the district and sessions judge of South Waziristan, was found late on Sunday night. Marwat had been abducted a day earlier and had pleaded to the government and court to meet the demands of his captors.
The abductee was returned home safely, according to the Dera Ismail Khan CTD, after being found “unconditionally.” Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif, the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s information advisor, later verified the judge’s full recovery.
Earlier, Mr. Marwat said in a video statement sent from an unidentified location, “Taliban brought me here.” There is a war going on and it is a jungle.
The session judge stated in the one-minute statement that the militants’ demands must be met before he may be freed. “I ask the federal and provincial governments, the chief justices of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the Peshawar High Court, to ensure that the demands of the Taliban are complied with and that I get well as quickly as possible,” he added.
Marwat requested that the government grant the demands of the kidnappers before he was freed; the driver informs police that the abductors had threatened “serious consequences.”
How Marwat was taken captive
Under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act and other regulations, a First Information Report (FIR) about the kidnapping of Mr. Marwat was filed at the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) police station on Sunday.
According to a CTD official, Sher Ali Khan Mehsud, the judge’s driver, claimed in the FIR that he and Mr. Marwat were traveling from Tank to D.I. Khan when their car was stopped at Garah Mohabbat Morr by a group of 25 to 30 persons armed with sophisticated weaponry. Then they started shooting at the car.
Five of the gunmen got into the judge’s car and drove off after blindfolding the driver. After traveling for around forty minutes, the car came to a stop in a woodland.
According to the FIR, the judge was wearing a shirt and slacks when the kidnappers urged him to change into a shalwar kameez suit that they had taken out of the car. The car was then set on fire by the kidnappers.
The kidnappers are said to be from a variety of tribes, including Marwat, Mehsud, Gandapur, and Afghans, according to the FIR.
According to the FIR, the kidnappers threatened to harm the driver if they did not get their demands fulfilled, threatening to release the judge in the event that the driver informed the authorities that their relatives were being held in bars. Subsequently, the judge was abducted by motorcyclists.
“A bid to weaken the system”
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council denounced the act but claimed that the judge’s kidnapping was an attempt to weaken the nation’s legal system.
The event raises concerns about the effectiveness of law enforcement agencies, the council continued.
Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur ordered the IGP to take action to ensure the judge’s safe recuperation after learning about the event. The chief minister stated, “Emergency measures should be taken to recover the judge.”
CTD authorities from Tank and D.I. Khan later created a joint investigation team to recover the judge who had been abducted. According to sources, no lives or property were lost during the coordinated security force action.
