Missing footballers’ families bitter over lack of action

Families of some of the six footballers, who were kidnapped in Balochistan’s Dera Bugti last week, complained on Tuesday about relevant authorities’ failure to recover the athletes, three days since their disappearance, Dawn.com reported.

The six football players were abducted by unknown armed men in the Kachhi canal area of Sui Tehsil of Dera Bugti district, while they were en route to Sibi to participate in the qualifying round of the All Pakistan Chief Minister Gold Cup Football tournament.

They were travelling with other members of the Dera Bugti district football team when they were kidnapped by armed men in the Jani Pedi area of Sui Tehsil.

Speaking to Dawn.com on Tuesday, the fathers of two of the kidnapped athletes — whose identities are not being disclosed due to security concerns — complained about the lack of progress on the matter.

One of them criticised the district administration for not giving any assurance to the families or contacting them to share information about measures being taken for the recovery of their children.

The other one said the Frontier Corps commandant had assured the families that the footballers would be recovered. “But they haven’t been found despite a passage of three days.”

Sharing his predicament, he said, “We can neither support nor oppose an operation as the footballers were still in captivity. An operation in this situation can increase the risk to our children’s lives.”

He appealed to caretaker Balochistan Chief Minister Ali Mardan Khan Domki and other officials to ensure the safe recovery of the footballers.

Meanwhile, a protest was held in Sui over the authorities’ failure to recover the footballers.

So far, security forces have arrested seven suspects in connection with the kidnapping incident but found no information about the athletes’ whereabouts.