ISLAMABAD, Oct 18: Seven persons were arrested by Shahzad Town police for their alleged involvement in kidnapping a shopkeeper, Allah Dita known as Bangali Samose Wala for ransom, the sources said on Tuesday.

The kidnappers were demanding Rs5 million from the family for the release of Allah Dita, a national of Bangladesh.

The media was first informed about the recovery through a press release but later the journalists were invited to a press conference addressed by the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) at 8:00pm.

The SSP gave the details of kidnapping and the recovery but avoided to answer the questions raised by the media after the press conference.

According to details, the victim’s wife Kherun Nisa, resident of Farash Town lodged a report with Shahzad Town police that her spouse running a shop with the name of Bangali Samosa Shop at Farooqia Market in Sector F-6 was kidnapped at gunpoint on October 6 while he was coming home in a Suzuki pickup along with his nephew, Mohammad Afzal and driver, Ghulam Abbas. She said that the kidnappers took away his husband and left behind the nephew and the driver.

In response to the complaint, SSP Muhammad Yousuf Malik directed SP (Rural) Faisal Bashir Memon to arrest the kidnappers at the earliest and recover the victim.

Acting on the directions, SP Memon constituted a special team headed by DSP Khursheed Ahmed Khan. SHO Inspector Younus Gujjar, Sub-Inspector Arshad Ali, ASI Salman Shah and others were also included in the team.

The police team picked up Allah Ditta’s nephew and his driver for interrogation. During preliminary investigation, they confessed to kidnapping Allah Ditta for money along with their accomplices Ramazan, Asad and Zafar who were also arrested later on.

They further told the investigators that the victim had been kept in a hideout at Wariam Wala in Shorkot, district Jangh. A police team raided the hideout and succeeded in recovering the victim. The police also arrested two persons who were guarding the victim.

Later, the victim and the arrestees were brought to the capital for further legal proceeding.

SSP Malik appreciated the performance of the police officials and announced cash prizes and commendation certificates for the members of the police team.— Staff Reporter