RAWALPINDI, Jan 29: A factory owner and his driver, who were kidnapped at gunpoint from Lahore and were being driven to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), were intercepted and recovered by National Highways & Motorway Police (NHMP) at Kallar Kahar on Sunday.

It all started when Ferozul Hassan Shah, a wealthy trader of Lahore, with his driver Abul Hassan Zaidi was on his way home located in Johar Town from his office when the gang of kidnappers in another car blocked his way.

The kidnappers left their car abandoned in Nawab Town and got into Ferozul Hassan's Honda Civic (LEJ-2061). They threatened the trader and his driver to kill them if they offered resistance and took the motorway.

"The car in which they were being abducted was intercepted by the motorway police only for violating the speed limit. However, as the police officer was walking towards the car driver – who later turned out to be a kidnapper – one of the victims showed some signs to the officer as if they were in trouble," the deputy superintendent of police Malik Israr told Dawn . He said on observing this, the officer started questioning the driver who pulled out his pistol and pointed it at the officer.

DSP Malik Israr said as the kidnappers observed that they would be in trouble, they got out of the car and escaped in the dark along with the abducted men. Later, reinforcement of police was called who started combing the area and finally managed to recover the abducted factory owner and his driver and arrested one of the kidnappers, identified as Naik Mohammad.

Another accomplice of the kidnapper named Niaz Khan managed to escape. According to DSP Israr, it took nearly 14 hours to complete the search operation and arrest the culprit.

Later the abductor was handed over to Nawab Town police who had already registered a kidnapping case.

Police also claimed to have seized weapons and some cash from the kidnapper, hailing from KP, who was being interrogated.