Polish oil company engineer kidnapped in Pakistan

A Polish engineer was kidnapped while three persons, including his Frontier Constabulary (FC) guard and driver, were killed by unknown assailants here on Sunday morning. All the four belonged to the field camp of Poland National Seismic Survey Company, Geofizvka Krakow.

Police said that the Polish engineer Piotr Stanczak, along with the FC guard, driver and another person, arrived at the field camp at about 6.20 am near Pind Sultani village of Tehsil Jand in Attock district for fieldwork, about 20 km from their main camp office in the jurisdiction of Basal police station. Just after their arrival, three to four unidentified persons attacked their Jeep No B-2748 (NWFP) and killed three persons on the spot, including his driver Anayatullah, a resident of Sargodha, assistant driver Riaz, a resident of Pindi Gheb, Attock, and FC Constable Muhammad Saleem of 206 FC Battalion, a resident of Bannu (NWFP). They abducted the Polish engineer and fled.

The bodies of the deceased were shifted to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, Jand, where their autopsy was carried out. Later, the bodies were handed over to the management of the company.

On receiving information, District Police Officer (DPO), Attock, Muhammad Wisal Fakhar Sultan Raja, Regional Police Officer Nasir Khan Durrani and officials of other law-enforcement and intelligence agencies rushed to the scene and started investigation but no clue to the kidnapped engineer was found till the filing of this story.

According to some sources, the kidnappers have taken away the Polish engineer to the tribal areas of the NWFP as Kohat, on the border of the NWFP, is only 25 kilometres from the place of incident.

Regional Police Officer (RPO) Nasir Khan Durrani, talking to newsmen, said it was strange that a foreign technician was sent to the field camp situated at a deserted place so early in the morning without adopting proper security measures. There was no barbed wire and other necessary security arrangements. This was done despite the fact that after terrorism incidents at different places in the country, all the oil exploring and other foreign companies working in district Attock had been cautioned a number of times through security meetings under the directive of the government for making proper security arrangements for their staff, particularly during movement in field areas.

DPO Attock Fakhar Sultan Raja said the police were examining all aspects of the incident and making all efforts to trace the outlaws and recover the kidnapped engineer. Funeral prayers of the deceased driver and FC man were offered at the camp office, which was attended by MPA Malik Iitbar Khan, company staff, FC officials and local people. The bodies were later dispatched to their native towns for burial.

Meanwhile, an official of Geofizvka Krakow Company, who later introduced himself as General Manager Ivean Brubel, used harsh language with the print and electronic media in the presence of DPO Attock and other officials for entering the company camp for coverage.

When informed that they were there to meet the DPO as part of their professional duty to know the details of the incident and that they had been allowed after proper identification, he started using abusive language. He even threatened the journalists to leave the place or he would shoot them. Although, on the request of the DPO, the journalists left the camp to avoid an unpleasant situation, they strongly protested the insulting behaviour of the general manager. Later, they brought the matter into the notice of RPO Nasir Khan Durrani.

The local media organisations, including Central Union of Journalists, Attock, strongly condemned the insulting attitude of the official and asked the Ministry of Information, ambassador of Poland in Pakistan as well as the Polish government to take note of the outrageous attitude of the concerned GM.

Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi has condemned the kidnapping of a Polish engineer from Attock on Sunday. Reacting to the reports of the kidnapping, he said, "On behalf of the government of Pakistan, I strongly condemn the kidnapping of Piotr Stanezak, a Polish engineer of M/s Geofizyka Krakow, early this morning in Attock. In this despicable act of terrorism, three Pakistanis accompanying the Polish engineer were killed by the unidentified assailants.”

He said the government of Pakistan assured the government of Poland and the family of Piotr Stanezak that it was taking all necessary measures for his safe and early recovery. All law enforcement agencies have been directed to ensure the safe return of the Polish engineer and to bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous crime, he added. "Our hearts go out to the families of the three Pakistanis who lost their lives in this incident," the foreign minister said.