SAHIWAL: A resident of Chak 60/D, Chahwala, Pakpattan, has allegedly been kidnapped by the Katcha area gangs.

Malik Munir’s elder brother Shameer Ahmed told Dawn that Munir had left for Sikander Chowk to buy some medicine on the Eid night (March 31) but did not return home. His family searched for him but in vain.

Villagers confirmed seeing Munir at Sikander Chowk but no further clues emerged for 18 days.

On April 18, Shameer received a call at his cell phone, informing him that his brother had been kidnapped by the Katcha robbers. On April 22, a video was sent to him on his mobile, showing Munir in chains, sitting on the sand floor, with a gun and stick pointed at his face. The video showed Munir being tortured with a stick and pleading with his family to pay Rs6m ransom.

The family decided to seek police help and Chak Badian Police of district Pakpattan registered a kidnap-for-ransom case on report of Shameer.

Pakpattan District Police Officer Javed Chadhar said Munir’s call data record (CDR) showed that he stayed at the Pak-Arab Society, Lahore, from March 31 to April 14, before being moved to the Katcha area by the kidnappers. His last location was in Kashmor, Sindh.

Munir’s family told police he had record of chatting with women and had given divorces to his two previous wives. Police investigators discovered that Munir had sold five acres of his hereditary land in February.

DPO Chadhar appointed SHO Malkan Hans Afzal Jatoi as the investigating officer in the case who had previously recovered a honey-trapped individual from the Katcha area at the border of Punjab and Sindh.

Sources said this is the first reported honey trap case in district Pakpattan in 2025. Last year, three similar cases were reported in the area of Kalyana, Farid Nagar, and Malka Hans police stations.

GANG RAPE: A 14-year-old girl was gang-raped by three suspects in Jahaz Ground, Sahiwal, at night.

Reports said the girl, a resident of Toba Tek Singh, was a guest at the house of Amir Abbas, a resident of Bilal Masjid, Jahaz Ground.

She was kidnapped in a car by two identified and one unidentified suspects. The girl was gang-raped and later thrown in the graveyard of Jahaz Ground when she fainted. She was seen by a passer-by. City police registered a case.

In another incident, a married woman was kidnapped and gang-raped by three men, one of them identified, at Chak 94/12-L. The suspects also made mobile phone videos of the woman and blackmailed her for extortion of money. Shah Kot police registered a case on the complaint of the victim.

SENTENCED: Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Moeen Khokhar sentenced a man for 28 years rigorous imprisonment and imposed Rs2m fine on him for kidnapping, raping, and making video clips of a minor boy at Mohalla Noor Park in 2022.

The convict, Ali Hasan, was also accused of blackmailing the 11-year-old child with his mobile phone video. He was booked by Ghalla Mandi Police on the complaint of the survivor’s father. Ghala Mandi police booked the suspect on rape and blackmail charges,

The judge while announcing judgement awarded 14 years imprisonment and Rs1m fine on two counts.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2025