LAHORE, Nov 18: An alarming increase in the kidnap for ransom cases has been recorded in the Punjab in the last five years, with nine cases being registered every month in the current year. Official record shows that Lahore is on top of the crime chart where at least two cases are reported every month. According to the statistics, police registered 93 cases in the first 10 months (January to October) of the year. A total 125 cases were registered last year. Twenty-one cases were registered in Lahore during the period under review as against 27 reported last year.

The record shows that 77 cases were registered in 2003, while the number was 69 in 2001. On average, five cases were registered every month in 2002, while 43 cases were registered in the year 2000.

According to statistics, Lahore police completely failed to handle these cases as most of the victims returned home after payment of ransom.

Police sources say that the reported number of the cases do not reflect exact situation of the crime as most incidents go unreported.

Defending the law enforcement agencies, an officer said the Punjab police did not have enough skills and facilities to handle these cases. It required a well equipped telecommunication system and specialist officers to deal with these cases. Unfortunately, the police did not have the facilities, he claimed.

Whenever a kidnap for ransom case is reported, police followed it in traditional way which usually ended in a failure, he said.

He said recently the biggest gang of the kidnappers was busted by the Lahore investigation police with the help of an intelligence agency. The agency used scientific equipments to track down the gang members who had kidnapped a businessman.

The busting of the gang would certainly help reduce the number of cases, Lahore investigation police chief Chaudhry Shafqaat Ahmad said.

He said the gang members had been sent to jail after completion of investigation. There was enough evidence against them, he added.

“They deserve a capital punishment. Their hanging will send a strong message to the people involved in the crime,” he said.

The police chief said killing of three kidnappers of a minor would also help control the problem. The three men had kidnapped Ans Masood, 6, and killed him when they could not handle him a few days before Eid.

He claimed that Rana Sarwat could be the pioneer of the kidnap for ransom in the Punjab. He struck headlines when he kidnapped an industrialist in Lahore and kept him in captivity for around a month some years ago.

At present, Sarwat is said to be in the US after he escaped from Pakistan a couple of years ago.