The Swiss couple that was kidnapped in Balochistan four days ago has been moved to the Taliban heartland of South Waziristan near the Afghan border, a rebel source claimed on Tuesday.
Olivier David Och, 31, and Daniela Widmer, 28, were abducted on Friday in Loralai district when they entered Balochistan from Punjab while they were heading towards Iran.
“Both have been shifted to South Waziristan,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) quoted a Taliban commander in the region who spoke on condition of anonymity.
He did not say which rebel group abducted the couple but confirmed that they had been moved to an area controlled by a pro-government militant commander named Maulvi Nazir.
“A demand of ransom and exchange of some prisoners is coming very soon,” he said.
Maulvi Nazir has an agreement with the government under which he focuses only on fighting foreign forces in Afghanistan and avoids attacks inside Pakistan, sources said.
Sohailur Rehman Baloch, top civil administrator in Loralai, refused to confirm the claims that the couple was in rebels’ custody.
“We are working on the case but there are no clues so far where these Swiss may be. No one has claimed responsibility and no one has demanded any ransom,” Baloch said.
“We believe that they might still be in the surrounding areas of Loralai and the kidnappers must be trying to move them into tribal regions. We are keeping an eye on the all exit routes,” he added.
Baloch said the couple entered Pakistan on July 28 from India and was on its way to Iran, Turkey and back to Europe.
“We found their credit cards and a diary where they had noted their travel expenditures from a vehicle abandoned after the kidnapping”, he said.
Meanwhile, the police in Balochistan continued to search for missing couple on Tuesday.
Sources said the authorities have widened the range of their search to Kila Saif Ullah Khan and some areas of Zhob. Police said they are still looking for clues in their search for the missing couple.
A committee has been, however, formed under Loaralai’s deputy commissioner and it is contacting various political and tribal elders in this regard.
