GUJRAT: A man turned out to be the killer of his uncle, a retired serviceman, who was kidnapped for ransom around 10 days ago from the Pahrianwali area of Mandi Bahauddin.

The search for the slain man’s body is still going on around the Mano Chak Canal.

Aslam Gondal, a retired official of the Pakistan Navy, a resident of Ranseeke village, had gone missing on Oct 26 after a visit to the shop of his nephew, Umair Arshad Gondal. Police had registered a kidnap case against unidentified suspects on the report of Umair.

Aslam’s family received telephone calls from unidentified men demanding Rs5m ransom for his release. The family members staged a protest by blocking Gujrat-Sargodha road near Pahrianwali Adda on Oct 27.

Pahrianwali Station House Officer Abdul Rehman Gujjar told Dawn by phone that Aslam had to bring some money to his wife and children living in Faisalabad. His nephew, Umair, also told police that he had paid Rs2.5m to his uncle and that the money was invested in his business more than a year ago. He said he had returned the amount when his uncle demanded it.

The SHO said Umair could not give satisfactory answers to the police queries and police took him into custody for interrogation on Nov 5. At the police station, Umair confessed to killing his uncle. He said after his uncle had received money, he took him to the canal bridge near Mano Chak where he had shot him dead with a pistol and threw his body into the canal.

Umair’s accomplice, Abdul Rehman of Jaranwala, has also been arrested.

The officer said Rescue 1122 and police were searching for the body of the victim.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2022