KARACHI: Five kidnappers were killed in an encounter and a trader they had abducted nearly a week ago was safely recovered in Surjani Town, said police and Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) officials on Thursday.

However, the officials added, the ringleader of the kidnappers, Mazhar alias Kala, managed to escape. They said the gang was involved in ‘short-term’ kidnappings.

SSP of the Special Investigation Unit Mohammad Farooq Awan, who is also official in charge of the AVCC, told the media that businessman Mohammad Zahid had been kidnapped from Shadman Town. He said that with the help of information provided by intelligence agencies and the Counter-Terrorism Department, the Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) of police and the CPLC jointly conducted a targeted raid on a hideout of the kidnappers in Gulshan-i-Bilal.

In the ensuing encounter, the officer said, the five kidnappers identified as Mohammed Faheem, Ain Ali, Mohammed Tanveer, Husainudin and Rasheed were shot dead and the businessman was safely recovered.

They had kidnapped the trader last Sunday and initially demanded Rs2 million ransom, which was later reduced to Rs500,000 after negotiations.

Speaking to the media, Mr Zahid said he was at his shop when the suspects approached him. “I was cleaning my shop when they [the kidnappers] asked me about its owner, while introducing themselves as personnel of police’s CIA,” he said. As soon as he told them that he was the shop owner, they took him away in a car. “They put me in an Alto car and covered my eyes due to which I could not see as to where I was being taken,” recalled the trader.

CPLC chief Zubair Habib told the media that kidnapping for ransom was a ‘sensitive issue’, as the life of the abductee remained in danger while they engaged kidnappers in negotiations in order to trace them. At times, kidnappers became successful in getting ransom, because for them protection of the life of the kidnapped victim was supreme, he added. They tended to arrest such kidnappers after payment of ransom. The CPLC chief said this gang was involved in ‘short-term’ kidnappings in the metropolis.

Another official requesting anonymity told Dawn that this appeared to be a ‘sophisticated gang’ allegedly involved in kidnappings, as they did not leave behind any ‘technological trace’ to locate and arrest them. The officer said this gang was involved in four recent kidnapping for ransom cases in the city and “naturally, the law enforcers were concerned about a sudden surge in the kidnapping for ransom cases”.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2016