The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) has been charged with retrieving three men abducted in Nowshera, the police said on Tuesday.

Nowshera Police spokesperson Turk Ali Shah told Dawn.com: “CTD has been given the task to make efforts and get the abducted people released.”

A first information report (FIR) of the incident was registered at the CTD Mardan Circle Police Station a day ago on the complaint of the engineer’s father under Pakistan Penal Code Section 365A (kidnapping or abducting for extorting property) and Section 7 (punishment for acts of terrorism) of the Anti Terrorism Act.

“My son … is an engineer with a telecom company and he was recently called for the installation of optical fibre cable to Nizampur,” the complainant said.

He said that his contact with his son was disrupted and he constantly tried, but his son’s phone was switched off.

The father added that his son was accompanied by a labourer from Karak and a driver from Parhoti Mardan, who were also taken away along with his son.

The FIR noted that on the evening of the incident on Sunday, another son of the complainant received a photo on his WhatsApp of his brother and the two other abducted men.

The father said that the kidnappers demanded Rs5 million in ransom from them for the release of the abductees.

He requested the police to release his son and his companions.