HYDERABAD: A case has been registered over the alleged ransom kidnapping of a wedding hall owner in Hyderabad, with two policemen and their accomplices nominated in the FIR, police said.
According to the FIR, registered under sections 365-A, 342, 384, 120-B, 147, 148 and 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code, along with sections 6 and 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, the incident took place on the night of March 10 near the Kanch Mill railway crossing. The complainant, Nasir Ali, owner of a banquet hall in Latifabad, said he was returning home on a motorbike with his employee and two children after offering the Taraweeh prayers at a mosque on Hali Road and visiting his mother.
He claimed that near the railway crossing, armed men riding a motorbike stopped him, while a car carrying four suspects was parked nearby. One of the suspects was allegedly wearing a police uniform and holding a weapon.
The suspects forcibly dragged him off his motorbike at gunpoint and pushed him into the car while brandishing Kalashnikovs, thereby creating panic in the area. The complainant said that during the scuffle, his children fell off the motorbike and were injured while trying to stop the vehicle as it drove away. According to the FIR, the suspects drove towards the highway and later stopped near the Jamshoro toll area.
The complainant claimed that he was then taken to an isolated place, where he was beaten and threatened with being implicated in a narcotics case if he failed to pay a ransom. He claimed that he was locked in a small room, where other individuals assaulted him and demanded money for his release. Initially, the suspects allegedly demanded Rs10 million, but later contacted a man identified as Talha and arranged for payment through the complainant’s brother.
The complainant claimed that he was brought to the gate of the Hilal-e-Ahmar Hospital in Latifabad Unit No. 6 early on March 11, where his brother paid Rs2 million to the suspects before he was released.
The FIR names policemen Talha and Sabir Shah, along with Junaid Mughal, Tanveer Mughal and other unidentified accomplices, for allegedly being involved in the planned kidnapping. Hyderabad police officials said that further investigation is under way, and that efforts are being made to apprehend the nominated and unidentified suspects.
