ISLAMABAD: The Margalla police arrested four people on the charge of abd ucting a female university student for a Rs20 million ransom, the police said on Saturday.

A citizen lodged a complaint with the police on October 16 that his 22-year-old daughter was missing since October 11. He alleged that a money changer was behind her kidnapping.

He said a few months ago the money changer had sent a proposal to marry his daughter. But the father asked him to send his elders with the marriage proposal.

The complainant, who was settled in Saudi Arabia, said though he did not refuse the proposal, there was a possibility that the money changer had got annoyed over his response and abducted his daughter. The police registered a case and started an investigation.

Initially, the investigation team, comprising SP Mohammad Ilyas, ASP Aamir Niazi, SHO Margalla Ghulam Mohammad Baqir, could not get any success and approached the complainant to get the actual facts. In response, the complainant told the police that he had been getting text messages on his mobile phone for the payment of the ransom since October 11. He said on October 16 he returned to Islamabad from Saudi Arabia and approached the police.

“I was asked to pay Rs20 million for the release of my daughter and also told not to inform anyone about the matter,” the police quoted him.

The call record of the victim showed that she had talked to the money changer twice on October 11. But the mobile number of the money changer was found switched off. The police later approached his brother who said the suspect had gone to Dubai on a business tour a few days ago.

He also disclosed the presence of a young woman with the suspect before he left for Dubai. The brother also told the police that the woman was now in Murree.

Later, a raid was conducted in Murree but the suspects had escaped before the arrival of the police there.

However, the investigators got the registration number of the vehicle on which the suspects had escaped.

Later, the vehicle was traced which led to the arrest of the four kidnappers, including the money changer and the woman.

The victim told the police that she had given Rs200,000 to the money changer who later returned Rs100,000 in two installment. On October 11, he called the woman to meet him so that he could return the remaining amount to her.

However, the woman told him that she was going to Pims in connection with her university assignment. Later, the suspect reached the hospital and took her away on the pretext of returning her the money.

She said the suspect intoxicated her and took her to a house from where they left the next morning. They were going towards Rawat in a car when two gunmen intercepted and abducted them.

She told the police that they were taken to Rawat and later shifted to Murree. She suspected that the money changer and his friends had staged a drama to abduct her.

“I suffered losses in business and owe a huge amount of money to different people,” the money changer told the police. He said he had planned the kidnapping to mint money to pay back his debts.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2014