ISLAMABAD: Taking exception to the rising incidence of kidnapping for ransom in the country, the Supreme Court asked the centre and the provinces on Friday to come up with solutions to beat the kidnappers and to deal with the issue of police maladministration.

“Issue notices to the home secretaries as well as the law secretaries of the four provincial governments and the Law and Justice Commission to give the court the input — with all their intelligence — on how to beat the problem of kidnapping for ransom and how the maladministration of police can be dealt with,” observed Justice Ejaz Afzal while presiding  over a two-judge bench.

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The bench had taken cognizance of three complaints, all relating to incidents of kidnapping for ransom in 1992. These complaints were moved before the Supreme Court by PPP legislator Abdul Sattar Bachani, Barrister Khurshid Hashmi while a third notice was taken by the court on an event relating to kidnapping, torture and abduction in the Gadap police jurisdiction.

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The bench ordered the respective provincial government officials to apprise the court about steps being developed to weed out criminals and the criminal psyche from society at large.

Meanwhile, a Sindh police report submitted by Karachi East Zone SSP Investigation-II Malik Altaf said that a total of 194 kidnapped individuals had been safely recovered in the Karachi range. The kidnappers of 184 of these people were arrested whereas 46 suspects were killed by Sindh police.

The report also explained that the Anti Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) handled kidnapping cases, but regretted that in most instances, neither the abducted person nor the complainant identified the kidnappers for fear of their lives.

The report also admits that the prosecution fails to put the kidnappers behind bars because of the non-cooperation or lack of interest shown by the victims or their families during trial and investigation stages.

The report stated that members of banned organisations and criminal gangs were usually found involved in kidnapping cases, as a means to generate funds for their cause.

The police, whose job it is to curb crime, the court regretted, still lived in the 19th century since they were neither equipped to deal with modern crimes, nor had they improved or updated their techniques.

In the good old days, Justice Afzal lamented, SHOs who had only been to middle school knew exactly how to deal with criminals, but today with all the modern means and resources at their disposal, officers who came up through the ranks and the civil service exams still could not produce results.

Though Justice Afzal appreciated that certain forensic laboratories in Sindh had been upgraded, he regretted that it was a common observation of the court in criminal cases that results of such laboratories were sometimes manipulated by influential parties.

The court lamented that the officers who gave laboratory reports are usually not well-equipped enough to deal with life-and-death situations, adding that in certain cases, even finger-printing technology was not used. Referring to the statement by Advocate General Fateh Malik that the police in Sindh have been de-politicised, Justice Afzal regretted that the posting, transfer and appointment of police personnel was carried out in accordance with the wishes of those in power.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2015

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