ISLAMABAD, May 24 -- Police and other law enforcement agencies launched a search operation on Wednesday evening in Pakistan's southwest city of Quetta and its adjoining areas to recover the two Chinese nationals who were abducted earlier in the day.
Heavy contingent of police and other law enforcement agencies can been seen all over the city especially at the entry and exit points of the city and in the areas adjoining to the incident site.
According to some reports, law enforcers have also made raids at some houses during the search operations in different areas outside the Quetta city.
Deputy Inspector General of Quetta police Aitzaz Goraya said that "we have collected evidences from the site, interviewed eyewitnesses, and monitored the CCTV footage. Basically, we have formed a strategy and now we are moving to execute it for the safe recovery of the Chinese."
The kidnappers forced the abductees into a vehicle at gunpoint and drove away, Goraya told local media.
The kidnapped including a man and a woman were coming from the market when the incident happened in Jinnah Town area of Quetta, police said.
The Chinese embassy in Pakistan on Wednesday confirmed that two Chinese nationals were kidnapped by unknown gunmen in Quetta, the provincial capital of Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province.
An official from the embassy told Xinhua that they are trying to learn more details about the incident as well as about the abducted persons, adding that they have urged the Pakistani side to rescue the abductees as quickly as possible.
The kidnappers who disguised as police were initially taking away three Chinese including two women and a man, but a passerby named Muhammad Zahir helped one of the women escape.
Zahir was shot injured by the kidnappers and has been shifted to a nearby hospital where police recorded his statement for investigation.
"On the way, I saw three persons were dragging and pushing three Chinese, two women and one man, to a silver color Toyota car. When I asked them why you are misbehaving with the foreigners, they said they are from the Crime Investigation Agency of Police and taking them for interrogation. On my physical intervention, one female escaped, when I tried to free the other one, one of the kidnappers fired at my leg, I fell down and they ran away with the two Chinese," Zahir told Xinhua.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri took notice of the incident and directed police to search the abductees. He further directed to design a standard operating procedure within 24 hours for ensuring the security of foreigners working or living in the province.
On his directions, police has advised all the foreigners living in the city to provide their residence addresses and their movement plans.
No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping yet.