20 Abducted Kalat Police Recruits Recovered Safely From Mangochar, All Personnel Safe and Sound

QUETTA: Four anxious days are over. The Kalat recruits recovered from Mangochar in Kalat district are the same 20 police trainees who were snatched on Friday, officials have confirmed, and a senior police officer put it plainly: all personnel are safe and sound.

How were they taken?

The recruits were heading home for the weekend. Travelling in a private van from Kalat towards Noshki, they were stopped on the Quetta-Karachi highway near Mastung. By the official account given at the time, the attackers came on motorcycles carrying automatic weapons, took the recruits away with the vehicle to an undisclosed location, and left the driver and three other passengers behind.

What is known about the recovery?

Only the outline, so far. The men were recovered from the Mangochar area, but officials have given no details of how the recovery was carried out and have not said whether anyone was arrested. No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. The recovered personnel belong to the Rakhshan division and are former Levies men who became part of the police after the two forces were merged.

What happens next?

For the families, the news is pure relief. The harder question has not gone away, though: how were 20 trained personnel lifted off a main highway in the first place? Balochistan has seen a run of abductions and attacks in recent months, and after this recovery the expectation is that the investigation will now move — towards whoever planned the snatch.