KARACHI: After over one month of captivity, two Nigerians were recovered on Saturday during a joint raid conducted by police’s Anti-Violent Crime Cell and Citizens-Police Liaison Committee from a flat near Liberty Chowk on Tariq Road, said DIG CIA Dr Amin Yousufzai.
Speaking at a press conference at his office, the senior officer said that the recovered foreigners, Patrick and David, had been kidnapped in PECHS, Block-2, near Tariq Road, in September.
They were found chained when law enforcers conducted the raid. One of the suspected kidnappers, Bilal Rasheed, was arrested from the spot while his three accomplices — Abdul Ahad, alias Qandhari, Adil and Shoaib Baloch — were absconders.
The kidnap victims’ cell phones and passports were also seized from the arrested suspect. Visas of both the recovered foreigners have expired.
The kidnappers had sent pictures of the Nigerians to their families in Nigeria and videos, which recorded ‘fake’ torture scenes.
“The kidnappers [had] demanded millions of rupees in ransom for their release,” revealed the DIG CIA.
“Both the kidnappers and the Nigerian nationals are members of a smugglers’ gang,” claimed the DIG CIA.
Regarding possible motive for their kidnapping, Dr Yousufzai disclosed that the foreigners were kidnapped after a “monetary dispute” between the members of the criminal gang.
The officer said that Khan Mohammad was the “mastermind” of the kidnapping.
The absconding suspect, Abdul Ahad, is a drug peddler, the police claimed.
“The recovered Nigerians were involved in sale of drugs and they tended to bring drugs/crystal to Karachi and other parts of the country through Balochistan,” said the officer.
Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2018
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