File photo of Judge Shakirullah Marwat
District and Sessions Judge Shakirullah Marwat was on Sunday safely recovered after armed men abducted him from near the border area of Tank and Dera Ismail Khan in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa a day earlier, the provincial government confirmed.
Adviser to KP chief minister on Information Muhammad Ali Saif told local media the judge was shifted to his home after his recovery, adding that additional details would be provided later.
On Saturday, police in KP confirmed that the judge, was is posted in South Waziristan, was kidnapped by armed men from the Bagwal village. They said the abduction happened while the judge was returning to Dera Ismail Khan after performing his duty in Tank. Following the incident, the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) registered a first-information report (FIR) against unidentified men.
According to the FIR, the judge’s driver said they were traveling on the Tank-DI Khan road when 25-50 armed men had intercepted their vehicle, abducted the judge and blindfolded the driver. It said the vehicle was driven for 40 minutes into the jungle after which the judge was directed to put on shalwar kameez provided by the abductors. The kidnappers then set the judge’s vehicle on fire and directed the driver to convey their message to the authorities concerned before fleeing from the scene.
Even prior to the registration of the FIR, the provincial government had formed a high-level special team to ensure the early recovery of the judge after a video of him urging authorities to accept the kidnappers’ demands was delivered to authorities. The Peshawar High Court also summoned the KP Home secretary and provincial police chief, directing them to recover the kidnapped judge at the earliest.
The abduction was condemned by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council, which described it as an attempt to undermine the country’s judicial system.