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Hindu trader kidnapped in Pakistan
A Hindu trader was kidnapped by unidentified armed men in Quetta city of southwest Pakistan today, police said.
A Hindu trader was kidnapped by unidentified armed men in Quetta city of southwest Pakistan on Wednesday, police said.
The trader, Roop Chand, was on way home from his shop when four armed men intercepted him on Arif Street in Quetta and took him away at gunpoint, police officials said.
Police have launched an operation to trace Chand.
No one claimed responsibility for the abduction, the latest in a string of crimes targeting the minority Hindu community in Quetta and other parts of the restive Balochistan province.
On December 13, well-known Hindu doctor Lakshmi Chand was gunned down by unidentified gunmen at Hindu Mohalla in Mastung town.
Reports said Chand had been the target of a failed kidnapping attempt some months ago and had planned to move out of Balochistan.
Members of the Hindu community in Balochistan and Sindh provinces have been targeted by criminal gangs and extremists in recent months.
Several Hindus, mostly petty traders, have been kidnapped for ransom.