Tehran, September 18: Two Iranian people kidnapped in the country’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan Province several days ago have been released, an Interior Ministry official says.
The two were taken hostage near the town of Sarbaz were freed Friday night by Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) troops, Iran’s Deputy Interior Minister for Security and Law Enforcement Affairs Ali Abdollahi told Mehr News Agency on Saturday.
Armed bandits stopped a bus travelling to the provincial capital of Zahedan around midnight and took six people — five Iranian Air Force enlistees and a civil servant — captive, he added.
He rejected claims by the Jundullah terrorist group that the hostages were the Air Force’s top brass, saying they were ‘rank and file service members.’
He said the hostage-takers were armed bandits who are only after ransom.
The hostage-takers could have promised Jundullah to trade them the captives to take advantage of the situation, he said.
“The hostage taking was definitely not the handiwork of Jundullah, but was done by armed bandits,” the senior official reiterated.
—-Agencies