KARACHI: In a rare admission about presence of global Islamic State (IS) group, one of the top police officers on Wednesday claimed to have arrested three suspected militants linked with the IS network in Pakistan, who were allegedly involved in kidnappings and targeted killings in Karachi and recovered over Rs10 million and weapons from their possession.

Two important commanders of this IS network had already been killed and four others were at large, revealed CIA DIG Dr Amin Yousufzai.

Speaking at a press conference at his office, the CIA chief recalled that on Feb 6, a man, Muhammad Raheel, was kidnapped in Block 6 of Gulistan-i-Jauhar by three kidnappers.

Later on, Nabeel, the brother of the kidnap victim received a call from Afghanistan-based SIM, demanding Rs100 million in ransom for his release.

The case was transferred to the Anti-Violent Crime Cell. The family with consultation of the AVCC team made a deal with the kidnappers and paid Rs10 million for his release.

Subsequently, DIG You­sufzai said the police started working on the case and with the help of the CPLC conducted raids on the outskirts of the city and in Balochistan and managed to arrest three suspects — Roohullah, Mukhtiar and Naeem — and recovered arms and ransom money from them.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2018