Police say Pakistani judge ‘kidnapped by Taliban’ rescued after late-night operation

PESHAWAR: A district and sessions judge who says he was kidnapped by Pakistani Taliban militants from the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province last week was recovered through a joint operation by police and security forces, police said on Monday.

Shakirullah Marwat was abducted near the town of Bagwal on Saturday while he was traveling from his hometown city of Tank toward Dera Ismail Khan district in KP. Pakistan has seen a resurgence of attacks by militants, especially those targeting security and police personnel, since 2022, when a ceasefire between the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP group, and the government broke down.

Security forces and police conducted two separate operations in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan districts after Marwat was abducted and killed six militants in an ensuing gunbattle, Regional Police Officer (RPO) Nasir Mahmood Satti said. 

“The judge was recovered in a joint intelligence-based operation on Sunday night,” Satti told Arab News. 

“Forces choked all entry and exit points of the two restive districts, leaving no room for kidnappers to keep the judge with them. Finally, they had to set him free.”

Satti said the judge had been recovered without paying ransom or striking any kind of deal with the kidnappers. 

Farooq Khan, Marwat’s relative who is also a lawyer, confirmed the judge had reached home on Sunday night. 

In a brief video message released on Sunday ahead of his release, the judge said he had been kidnapped by the Pakistani Taliban, urging the federal and provincial governments and the chief justices of the Peshawar High Court and Supreme Court of Pakistan to meet the kidnappers demands and ensure his release. He did not specify in the video what the demands were and police declined to share details of the demands or the operation.

Shah Fahad Ansari, a high court advocate and divisional president of the Peoples Lawyers’ Forum, said the legal fraternity appreciated the “swift response” by police and security forces to ensure the judge’s recovery.

“But we demand authorities adopt all measures to ensure security in the province and discourage recurrence of these kinds of incidents in the future,” Ansari said.

Earlier this month, six including five customs department officials were killed in an attack in Dera Ismail Khan. Two customs officers were also killed in the area in a separate attack earlier.

Militants have also targeted security officials in KP in recent weeks, killing a number of police and counterterrorism department officials in targeted shootings.