ANP leader kidnapped in Pak`s Balochistan

Islamabad: A senior leader of the Awami National Party (ANP) was today kidnapped by unidentified persons from the restive Quetta in Pakistan`s Balochistan province.

ANP`s provincial president Arbab Abdul Zahir Kasi was travelling in his car when three unidentified people stopped his vehicle and took him away. Police have taken into custody his driver, who told them that they were passing by Patel Road, when three armed persons in a white colour car stopped them and forcefully took away the leader. The driver also said the accused had roughed him up and snatched away his mobile and car key. Police have cordoned off the area and have launched a search operation. Balochistan, the most deprived province of the country, is a flashpoint for a separatist insurgency and sectarian violence since 2004. The insurgency, however, became deadlier following the killing of Jamhoori Watan Party leader Nawab Akbar Bugti in a military operation in 2006.