Tehran: Iranian police have freed a former fencing champion held hostage by bandits since the beginning of May and arrested several of his captors, said an intelligence ministry statement reported on Sunday.
Hamed Sedaqati, 29, was seized in the restive south-eastern province of Sistan-Balochistan, along with a lawyer who was accompanying him, in an ambush in which a third man was killed.
“In a complex operation... our two fellow citizens were freed and several bandits arrested,” said the ministry statement reported by Iranian media.
The kidnappers had released a video in which they demanded a ransom of $5 million (Dh18.3 million) for Sedaqati, who won a bronze medal in the 2006 Asian Games, the government daily Iran said.
Sistan-Balochistan is home to a large ethnic Balochi community, most of whom are Sunnis, the minority faith in Shiite-dominated Iran.
The area has been the scene of armed conflict in recent years with Sunni extremists carrying out assassinations, bombings and kidnappings targeting Iranian officials and civilians.
The province also lies on the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan and has seen frequent security force operations against drug traffickers and other bandits.
Sedaqati’s abduction came three months after five Iranian conscripts were abducted by Sunni extremists in the province.
Four of the soldiers were eventually freed and returned home in April. Officials say the fate of the fifth soldier is unknown, but he is presumed dead.
