RAWALPINDI: A member of the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Rawalpindi demanded a ransom of Rs15 million from a government contractor and after he refused to pay the money, allegedly attacked his house with a cracker in Dhoke Lakhan in Dhamial area.

After a first information report (FIR) was registered with the police on Tuesday, the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) was also involved in investigation of the case.

Mohammad Nisar, a government contractor and resident of Dhoke Lakhan Chakri Road, lodged an FIR with police saying that he received a voice message on his mobile phone on Oct 7, 2022 in which the caller identified himself as a representative of TTP and demanded ransom of Rs15 million.

He said when he ignored and did not attend his message, the man turned towards his brother Mushtaq Ali’s mobile phone and sent a voice message to him asking him to show it to his brother. Nisar had been working as a government contractor for the last 20 years.

He further said he was sleeping in his home, while his wife and children had gone to their village when he woke up upon hearing an explosion from outside his house on Dec 28, 2022 at 4am.

He said in the FIR that he went to the rooftop of his house to see what had happened but could not see anything due to darkness. He came down to his room and slept. On the following day, his brother received another voice message, in which the suspect could be heard saying that he had shown a glimpse to his brother last night.

“I shall destroy your brother’s house by hurling hand grenades,” the complainant said in the FIR while quoting the suspect.

Nisar said he plunged into distress upon hearing the threatening voice messages. After this, he went to the rooftop of his house and found exploded pieces of a cracker and some spots on the compound wall of the roof.

After collecting evidence, he contacted the relevant law enforcement agency. An FIR was registered subsequently.

According to sources, it was discovered during the initial investigation that the suspect was using a foreign gateway to make WhatsApp calls, which made it difficult to determine his location. This issue will be resolved with the assistance of other law enforcement officials, and the suspect will be arrested, the sources said.

Earlier on Tuesday, police have agreed to institutionalise coordination between the two departments through regular meetings and decided to adopt a joint plan of action in the fight against terrorism and crime.

It was also decidaed to set up joint checkpoints, conduct joint operations based on intelligence and take combined action against terrorists and criminal groups.

The decisions were taken at a top-level special meeting held between the Inspector General of Police Islamabad Dr Akbar Nasir Khan and Regional Police Officer (RPO) Rawalpindi Nasir Mehmood here in the RPO office on Tuesday.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2023