KARACHI, March 28 The city police have arrested nine members of two gangs involved in cases of kidnapping for ransom, and recovered from them four victims in two separate early morning raids, Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Wasim Ahmed said on Saturday.

Speaking at a hurriedly-called press conference at the Central Police Office (CPO), he said the suspected kidnappers hailed from different parts of the NWFP. One of the gangs had kidnapped two cloth merchants of Kharadar, Khurrum and Imran, from near their houses in Khayaban-i-Shahbaz in the Defence Housing Authority on March 14. “The kidnappers demanded Rs50 million for their release,” he added.

The CCPO said that the kidnappers, who made ransom calls from Peshawar, Mardan and Mohmand Agency, gradually reduced the amount and finally agreed on Rs10 million during lengthy negotiations with the victims' families.

He said that a case (FIR No138/2009) was registered against unknown culprits with the Gizri police and the investigation was assigned to a joint team of the Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) and the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC).

“While the joint team was still investigating the kidnapping of the cloth merchants, a major food chemical trader of the city, Mohammed Sharif, was abducted from near his house in Khayaban-i-Sehar, DHA, at around 11pm on Friday by the same gang,” he added.

The CCPO said that the joint team tracked down the suspected kidnappers and raided their three-storey hideout in a shantytown near Chandni Chowk in Gizri in the small hours of Saturday. “The raiding team took the culprits by surprise and overpowered them without even firing a single bullet,” he added.

He said that an AK-47 assault rifle (Kalashnikov), a 12-bore shotgun, four pistols, several live bullets and a car (AJP-570) were also seized from the suspects, who were identified as Jahanzeb, son of Saifullah, Syed Barkatullah, Fazle Rabbi, Iftikhar Ali, Syed Musa Baacha and Israr Gul. “The suspects hailed from Swat and Mardan, and had come to Karachi for committing crimes,” he added.

Mr Ahmed said that Jahanzeb, the ringleader, was a former Asian karate champion.

He said that the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) in a separate operation arrested three kidnappers, including a woman, and recovered from their custody a kidnap victim, Mohammed Zahid, who was taken away on March 25 in Golimar by the occupants of a white car while he was on his way to his garment shop in Hyderi Market. “The kidnappers demanded Rs20 million for the victim's release,” he added.

He said that the SIU chief, SP Raja Umer Khattab, formed a special party who raided the suspects' hideout in Laasi Goth in the limits of the Sohrab Goth police and arrested three suspects, Asghar, son of Chiragh Din, Fateh Mohammed, son of Mohammed Walari, and Yasmeen. “The woman suspect, a divorcee, is mother of six children and is also a relative of one of the arrested suspects,” he added.

The city police chief said that the same gang had earlier kidnapped a garment shop owner six months ago near Ayesha Manzil, Federal B Area. “The kidnappers injected the victim to sedate him but threw him out of their car as he remained conscious despite getting the injection,” he added.

In reply to a question, the CCPO said that there had been a significant decrease in the incidents of carjacking and street crime since the imposition of a ban on pillion-riding. “Indeed the ban is causing a great deal of inconvenience to people, but we have to decide whether we want a convenience or a safe and secured environment in the city,” he remarked.