Last week the capital police arrested a militant affiliated with Tehrik-i-Taliban Punjab chapter for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping of an inspector and a patwari.

The militant - Sibghatullah Mavia - was arrested from Vehari. He is the brother of Asmatullah Mavia, head of the TTP Punjab chapter, and is reported to have studied at Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan.

Sibghatullah has allegedly led a gang that has carried out a number of kidnappings for ransom. During interrogation he confessed to his involvement in kidnappings, adding that a militant from Khanewal was also involved.

Sibghatullah is in policy custody for the moment.

However, his capture is not just being celebrated because he can be held accountable for the crimes he has committed but for what his release can lead the Taliban to do.For the past few months, the police have been focusing on the case of the kidnapping of Inspector Rana Pervez and Patwari Arshad Mehmood. Both went missing from Tarnol on December 3; later it was said that they were kidnapped by the TTP.

Investigations revealed that the TTP wanted to kidnap a property dealer – Rana Sadique – for ransom. The kidnappers set up an appointment with him on the pretext of wanting to buy property.

However, Sadique could not make it to the appointed meeting and instead sent his ‘brother’, Rana Pervez. The latter, who is an inspector in the police force, is a business partner of Sadique and close enough for the property dealer to consider him a brother.

The inspector asked the ‘prospective buyers’ to meet him at his house in sector G-8/4 from where they all left together to see the property in Tarnol. En route they also picked up the patwari.

No one has since seen the inspector or the patwari. Oddly enough, the kidnappers have not contacted the inspector’s family or the police for ransom money or made any other kind of a demand in exchange for his release. However, the patwari’s family has been hit by a ransom demand.

On December 20, three suspects were picked up when they arrived at Chungi No 26 to get the ransom the patwari’s family had agreed to pay — one of them was a homeopathic doctor.

However, all the accused were released on bail after a behind the scene agreement with the Taliban that in exchange the two hostages would be freed. Three month later, the families of Rana Pervez and Arshad Mehmood continue to wait.

This delay has worried the police, as in their experience, the TTP finalises a deal (financial or otherwise) in 20 days to a month and sets the victim free after getting the amount. A four-month period is rare, to say the least. However, mediators, which include tribal jirgas that have been organised to secure their release, assure the police that the two hostages are still alive.

In the meantime, the investigators have rounded up around a dozen people, including militants as well as the secretary of a slain leader of banned Sunni extremist group. These people have been picked up not to provide leads but to serve as ‘bait’ to get the kidnappers to agree to free the hostages in exchange for these people in the custody of the state.

Sibghatullah is also seen as part of this ‘bait’.

However, the questions that no one seems to be asking is why the police are legitimising a kidnapping by getting involved in negotiations with the kidnappers and even carrying them out. Just because the police are not handing over money and are offering hostages in exchange does not make their action any better.

The world over, the police tend to discourage distraught families from handing over the ransom in exchange for kidnapped hostages. But in Pakistan, the police, instead of stopping the families, are carrying out the exchange themselves; more serious still, they are picking up people and holding them in custody till they can be exchanged for the hostages. Surely, this is unethical and far from legal.

Agreed that kidnapping is emerging as a serious crime in Pakistan and the law enforcement personnel have to make every effort possible to ensure the release of the innocent citizens. However, carrying out exchanges may serve to encourage the kidnappers.We need a long term solution, not a short term firefighting.