ISLAMABAD: The capital police chief on Tuesday surprised a Senate committee with the information that 249 kidnapping cases have been registered in the city over the past three years, many of them being cases of kidnapping for ransom.

Indeed, IGP Tahir Alam Khan turned the surprise of the members of the Senate standing committee on interior to shock by agreeing with the popular perception that the criminals hardly got convicted.

Only three of the scores of accused in the 249 cases have been convicted since 2012.

Meanwhile, two more cases have been registered with the police since the start of the new year, the officer told the committee, which met under its chairman Mohammad Talha Mehmood to discuss the affairs of the federal capital.

Asked for the reasons behind such low convictions in kidnapping cases, IGP Khan said, “flaws and hurdles in the process of evidence collection” made ensuring conviction difficult.

“We want the process of evidence collection facilitated,” he said.

“The Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 was amended twice - in 2013 and 2014 - but no one cared to listen to the police. Confessional statements of the accused to the police are not given weight and independent witnesses hardly agree to record their statements in the courts.”

In this situation, police officials themselves often appear as witnesses. “We try to solve cases,” he added.

Committee member Tahir Hussain Mashhadi referred the city police chief to the Protection of Pakistan Act, which, he said, empowered law enforcement agencies. Police should not make excuses, the senator remarked.

However, Chief Commissioner Islamabad Zulfiqar Haider came forward to defend the police, saying the Protection of Pakistan Act was for maintaining public order and cannot be used in kidnapping for ransom cases.

On that, committee chairman Sen Talha Mehmood offered that the ministry of interior and police may seek help from the committee and its members in resolving such issues.

Talking to Dawn, Sen Mashhadi said a number of mafias had been operating in Islamabad, which increased crime in the city.

“Now, the only solution is strict action against the criminals, especially members of the banned organisations, who have been kidnapping people.

However, sincere and honest police officers need to be appointed for the job,” he said.

Crime has been on the rise in the once peaceful and serene Islamabad with the increasing population, the war on terror and worsening sectarian schism.

In recent years, well-off citizens have received letters in the name of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, demanding ransom or their children would be kidnapped. Most families warded off the threat by striking a deal with the criminals rather than putting faith in the police.

Even where police did catch the kidnappers, the victims saw little chance of them being convicted.

Published in Dawn January 21st , 2015

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