Police under pressure to recover kidnapped 'PTI cat'

Published January 5, 2016
The cat ─ allegedly worth Rs0.2m ─ briefly shot to fame when its owner took her to the PTI sit-in at D-Chowk in 2014. ─ Photo: Imtiaz Asif
The cat ─ allegedly worth Rs0.2m ─ briefly shot to fame when its owner took her to the PTI sit-in at D-Chowk in 2014. ─ Photo: Imtiaz Asif

FAISALABAD: Police arrested three men on Monday for kidnapping and abducting a cat belonging to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) activist Imtiaz Asif.

Asif lodged a First Information Report against three men who had been pressuring her to join the PML-N. She believes the men kidnapped her cat in an act of retaliation upon her refusal to join their party.

Asif claims that her cat — said to be worth Rs0.2 million — had briefly shot to fame when she took it along with her to PTI's 126-day sit-in at Islamabad's D-Chowk in 2014.

She tells Dawn.com that she had been pressured by several men in her neighbourhood to switch parties and join the PML-N. She says the men lived in her neighbourhood and had seen her cat roaming freely on the street.

The three men have been arrested by the police and an investigation has been launched into the cat theft.

Police on Monday had recovered a cat and presented it to Asif for identification, but she says it was it was not her cat.

Asif tells Dawn.com she has received calls from several unidentified men who are pressuring her to join PML-N, and have offered to return her cat in exchange.

"The cat is very dear to me," says Imtiaz.

Opinion

The Dar story continues

The Dar story continues

One wonders what the rationale was for the foreign minister — a highly demanding, full-time job — being assigned various other political responsibilities.

Editorial

Wheat protests
Updated 01 May, 2024

Wheat protests

The government should withdraw from the wheat trade gradually, replacing the existing market support mechanism with an effective new one over the next several years.
Polio drive
01 May, 2024

Polio drive

THE year’s fourth polio drive has kicked off across Pakistan, with the aim to immunise more than 24m children ...
Workers’ struggle
Updated 01 May, 2024

Workers’ struggle

Yet the struggle to secure a living wage — and decent working conditions — for the toiling masses must continue.
All this talk
Updated 30 Apr, 2024

All this talk

The other parties are equally legitimate stakeholders in the country’s political future, and it must give them due consideration.
Monetary policy
30 Apr, 2024

Monetary policy

ALIGNING its decision with the trend in developed economies, the State Bank has acted wisely by holding its key...
Meaningless appointment
30 Apr, 2024

Meaningless appointment

THE PML-N’s policy of ‘family first’ has once again triggered criticism. The party’s latest move in this...