‘Pray for son’s recovery’: Dera Bugti abducted footballer’s father

The parents of the football players who were abducted from Dera Bugti district of Balochistan on September 9 are still waiting for the return of their children and one of them says that the nation should ‘pray for recovery.’

According to officials, 18 players were on their way to Sibi on Saturday when armed men stopped their vehicle in Jani Baird area and took six of them with them.

A player from Dera Bugti said on condition of anonymity that the four abducted players belonged to the ‘Needle Defeator’ team, which emerged as champions in the district games held on August 14 this year.

He told Independent Urdu: ‘Four of those abducted in the past days belonged to Sui Club, including Muhammad Amir, Shiraz, Faisal Ahmed and Babar Ali. Players are selected and participate in competitions.

He added: ‘These four are considered to be among the most famous and talented football players of Dera Bugti, who have been participating in district level competitions.

He said: ‘Muhammad Aamir U-18, Babar Ali U-18, Faisal Ahmed U-18 and Yasir Ahmed U-20 were players, Aamir’s father Zakir Hussain is an active person in social work.’

He said that some of these players had done Matriculation and some had done FSC, the rest were more known for football.

Zakir Hussain, father of abducted player Amir, told Independent Urdu: ‘My son was going to Sibi for a football tournament, so far no progress has been made to recover him and other colleagues.’

Zakir Hussain said: ‘Aamir was doing BSc from Sui College, just pray that he recovers.’

Caretaker Federal Minister for Home Affairs Sarfaraz Bugti said in a tweet on Sunday that FC Balochistan North is tirelessly trying to recover the kidnapped Judera Bugti safely, for whom prayers are needed.

Earlier, in a statement released by the caretaker federal interior minister Sarfraz Bugti from the Ministry of Interior, it was said that all resources are being used to recover the six footballers who were kidnapped from Dera Bugti.

In the statement of the Ministry of Interior, the caretaker interior minister added that ‘the necks of those who spread unrest cannot escape the punishment of the law.’

According to the caretaker chief minister: ‘On the last day, orders were issued to all security agencies to take steps to recover the hostages. The hostages are our children, I will not rest until their recovery.’

On the other hand, the spokesperson of the banned organization Baloch Liberation Tigers, Meeran Baloch, has claimed that on Monday in Sui’s Go area, “six officers of the secret agency were arrested during an operation.”

The spokesperson said: ‘Those who are being portrayed as footballers in the media were active agents of the secret agency.’

This statement of BLT could not be confirmed by independent sources.

Balochistan Chief Minister Ali Mardan Domki, Interior Minister Mir Zubair Jamali and Sports Minister Jamal Raisani also took notice of this incident and directed the authorities to take steps for immediate recovery.

On the instructions of Chief Minister Ali Mardan Domki, Additional Chief Secretary Interior was appointed as the focal person for the recovery of the players.

In a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Secretariat, the Chief Minister said that for the recovery of the players, the support of the FC should also be obtained according to the situation, teams should be formed consisting of the FC Levies and the police.