KARACHI: A young man, who had shot at and wounded two policemen in order to resist his arrest in connection with a kidnapping for ransom case in Defence Housing Authority (DHA) on Saturday evening, was arrested on Sunday and booked with charges of terrorism and possessing illegal weapons, officials said.

CIA DIG Muqaddus Haider said that during a preliminary probe investigators got ‘significant clues’ about the kidnapped youth, Mustafa Amir, 23, from detained suspect Armaghan.

He said two separate FIRs for wounding two officers and recovery of imported illegal weapons had been registered against the suspect at the Gizri police station.

The DIG said the suspect had also been formally arrested in the kidnapping case of Mustafa from the DHA recently and he had provided ‘vital clues’ about the case.

DIG says Armaghan is also linked with kidnapping of man

On Saturday evening, two police officers of Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) were shot at and wounded by the suspect when a police party along with a warrant attempted to arrest him, said the CIA DIG.

The CIA chief said that Mustafa Amir was kidnapped from the DHA and his family had received a ransom call demanding Rs20 million. The case was handed over to the AVCC for investigation.

During the initial probe, it transpired that the kidnapped youth had made a last phone contact with his friend Armaghan.

Besides, the kidnapped person’s mother had also raised suspicions about his (Armaghan) involvement in the kidnapping of her son.

Thus, he said the AVCC police along with an arrest warrant arrived at the bungalow of the suspect in the DHA. The suspect opened ‘heavy fire’ on police, resulting in bullet injuries to DSP Ahsan Zulfiqar and constable Aslam.

Then the suspect climbed on the roof of his house and continued firing from there on the police party. The police entered the house and managed to arrest him.

“A large quantity of weapons was seized from the house,” said the CIA head.

He said Armaghan in his early 20s was a friend of the kidnapped youth.

He said the youth was kidnapped on the same day when he was supposed to appear before a court in a drug case. He recalled that the kidnapped youth was arrested by the ANF in the drug case and was released on bail.

He said now, they were treating him (held youth) as one of the suspects allegedly involved in the kidnapping of his friend.

His servants had also been detained for interrogation. “The police have reason to believe that there are two other partners of the held suspect involved in the kidnapping of the youth,” said the CIA head.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2025