QUETTA-CHAMAN KIDNAPPING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21102, 12 August 1930, Page 11

QUETTA-CHAMAN KIDNAPPING

NEW ZEALAND OFFICER AND . his Wife. DISTINGUISHED WAR SERVICE.* ' (F«om Our ,6ww poßßßSPorrwiira.) LONDON, June 18. On June 7 the news readied London that two British military pfflcere and the wife of one of thpm bad been Iddnapped -by'Achaksai raiders on the toad. . from Quetta to Chaman, on, the Afghan border, and had been- carried into Afghanistan. They Major S.' L. Parley, M. 0., a upper serving In Quetta; Captain J, G. D.S.O., M. and -we. Frere. 1 , Captain Frere is Brigade-major of the 12 Bseundeabsd Infantry Brigade. Captain Prere, the eon of the Rev.' „ Hugh Corrie Frere, rector of Roydon, 'Norfolk, was born in New'Zealand* land educated at Trinity College, Glenalmond, Perth, and Ksble College, Oxford. He Joined the anny .early in 1014, . and almost at ;once saw. active service with 'the Suffolk Regiment, being mentioned in despatches four'times dating the war. Ho went to India • in" • 1019' with the Machine Gun Corps, and the following - ?ear took part in operations In Paririetan. In, 1921 he was appointed brigade major of the 9th Indian Infantry, and from 1923 to 1926 he was ■ adjutant to the Ist' Battalion Suffolk Regiment. ' Mrs Frere is the daughter Of the Rev, - A. Heble White, “of Chevington, Suffolk. They have a baby son in India. ‘ It was good news next, day to hear that the party, had been rescued a&d had readied Quetta. THE CAPTURE. A Reuter message gave the following details:— Major Farley and Captain -ted Mrs . Frere were kidnapped by a band of ttfansborder. Achakzai raiders at a point L > several miles from Chaman. They were motoring along the road in 'two 'driven <by Inmans, when at 3.30 in the afternoon they Were held up by a barricade of rocks. . Hardly had the care stopped when the raiders fell upon the occupants, seised . the two -officers and Mrs Frere and 1 carried them across the frontier.- The first news of the outrage was received . in Chaman from the driver of a train which passed close to the spot shortly after the. Incident. Seeing the bamcade of rocks and the two can with no one in them, he stopped his train and made rapid investigations. Having gleaned all the information he could get be drove at full speed to Chaman. . Levies of police and troops were rushed to the spot, but wars unable to overtake the gang, before it crossed the , border about six miles distant. CAMEL RIDE TO NOMAD VILLAGE. The kidnapped party Were placed on camels and taken to-a nomad village near Kuncbai, some 20 miles south-west of Chaman, in Afghan territory, where they spent the nights of Wednesday and Thursday (June 4 and 6). A Jirga (tribal gathering) of local maliks (chiefs) was promptly despatched on the tracks of, the raiders, and one of the chiefs, the Hakim of Spin Baidak, was requested to take immediate steps to effect the return of the kidnapped persons, and was reminded that their safety should be regarded as the primary consideration. , On June 6 the Hakim sent a small body of men with certain tranehorder Achakzai maliks by motor car to Kunebal, where they proceeded to negotiate with the raiders. CAPTIVES BEING WELL TREATED. The Hakim is reported to have proceeded to Kunchai in person on June i 6 with a. body of Afghan troops in six lorries. It is reliably reported that the prisoners’ are being treated with, consideration, and there-seems to he no reason at present: to -entertain any anxiety regarding their safety. It has not yet been possible to ascertain definitely the motive for the outrage, but it is thought to have , been perpetrated iu retaliation for the arrest of certain members who are members of \ a section' of the Achakzai tribe and resident in British territory. The Achakzais are the most aggressive of all the Duranl tribes, who constitute the dominant race of Afghans,