KARACHI: A 20-year-old girl, who was kidnapped by four armed men outside her home in Defence Housing Authority last Sunday morning, reached her home safely early on Sunday morning after her family reportedly paid ransom for it, officials and sources said.

The police described it as the first of its kind case in which only social media was used by the kidnappers. The police believed that the kidnappers might have some ‘inside help’.

Speaking at a press conference at his office, South SSP Pir Mohammed Shah said that the girl returned home safely early on Sunday morning.

Police claim arrest of another suspect in constable’s murder case

The kidnapping of a young woman in the DHA was a rare case in which the kidnappers remained in touch with the family through websites of social media. He said that all law enforcement agencies were ‘active’ for safe recovery of the girl.

Mr Shah hinted that ‘someone close’ to the family might be involved in the kidnapping and vowed that the criminals would be taken to task soon.

Describing the kidnapping case as a challenging one for the law enforcers, the officer said that they were planning to enhance their capability to deal with such cases in the future.

He suggested that the girl was kept at somewhere in the city and hinted at the ‘strong possibility’ that the family had paid ransom money.

However, he disclosed that the girl’s father told the police that “with his own strategy” he got his daughter released from captivity of the kidnappers, but did not elaborate it.

South zone DIG Sharjeel Kareem Kharal told Dawn that after the kidnapping incident, they had taken several ‘preventive steps’ to stop recurrence of such incidents. The policemen had been deployed at all restaurants in Defence and Clifton to keep an eye on criminal elements.

The DIG added that law enforcers had set up committees for safe recovery of the girl, which conducted raids in different parts of the city and detained some persons for questioning.

According to the Darakhshan police, on last Sunday night (May 11), the girl with her cousin and others had tea at a roadside restaurant in the DHA. She was returning home located on Khayaban-i-Sahar in Phase-VI. The girl was driving the car while her driver was seated on the rear seat. When she reached home at around 1.45am, the driver got off the car to open the gate. In the meantime, four armed suspects following in a car arrived there and kidnapped the girl at gunpoint.

Suspect in a policeman’s killing held

Meanwhile, the South SSP in his press conference stated that police had arrested the main suspect, Noorul Islam, who had allegedly gunned down policeman Jehangir in Hijrat Colony two months ago and seized the weapon used in the murder.

The other suspect, Rehan, was already in police custody.

The officer recalled that Noorul Islam had fled to Buner after the murder from where he shifted to Kirk, Kohat and then to Attock.

When he returned to the city recently, Civil Lines SHO arrested him.

The policeman was shot dead when he with another constable was doing reconnaissance duty in Hijrat Colony before launching of a combing operation there in March.

The South SSP said that both the held suspects were street criminals who were once arrested by the Boat Basin police and released from the court.

Mr Shah said under directions of the IGP, the murder case of the policeman had been taken as a ‘model case’ and culprits would be brought to justice on basis of ‘concrete evidences’.

The IG Sindh announced cash reward for the police party.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2019