KARACHI, Nov 28: A total of 36 cases of kidnapping for ransom were reported during the 10 months of the current year as against 33 reported during the whole year of 2003, well-placed sources in the police department said.

They said that in 35 cases of the current year, 44 people were kidnapped whereas last year, 39 people were kidnapped for ransom. Besides, a significant rise in robberies has also been witnessed during the January-October period this year as more than three people every hour were deprived of their belongings.

The substantial upsurge in the incidents of armed robberies and kidnapping for ransom showed the failure of capital city police to curb criminal activities. Many concerned citizens suggest that the entire police set-up should be changed.

The sources said that two captives were killed after negotiations with their captors failed. In 15 cases, the police managed to arrest the kidnappers while 16 other cases remained mystery as the captives got themselves freed after their captors were paid the ransom amount.

The first day of this year witnessed the kidnapping of six people in a single incident that occurred in Khwaja Ajmer Nagri police limits. However, the case was solved in the next three days jointly by the police and the Citizen-Police Liaison Committee. All of the captives were rescued and their kidnappers caught.

During this year, nine children, between the age of two and 14 years, were kidnapped in Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Ferozabad, New Town, Korangi, Pirabad, Clifton, New Karachi and Landhi police limits.

A seven-year-old kidnap victim, Omair, was killed whereas six other children were rescued. A boy returned home when his parents paid the ransom. The whereabouts of Hammas Ahmed, 4, who had been kidnapped from New Karachi on July 3, are still not known. An FIR (98/04) was registered in New Karachi Industrial Area police station in this regard, the sources said.

They said the FIRs in seven incidents were not registered as the hostages were freed either the same day or the following day after their families paid the ransom amount to captors.

The longest kidnapping appeared to be of Saad Mohammad Shaikh, who had been kidnapped for ransom on March 27 in Darakhshan police limits in Clifton. He was rescued on July 18 after remaining in captivity for 101 days.

A small boy Farhan Farooq was kidnapped for ransom on Aug 25 and recovered from Balochistan after six days. The FIR of the incident was registered at the Jackson police station. The police also arrested three kidnappers.

The sources pointed out that the Anti-Violent Crime Cell, set up especially for such crimes, had so far played no significant role in solving the kidnapping for ransom cases. In many cases, the captors set free their hostages after receiving the ransom and the AVCC failed to arrest them.

In some cases, AVCC officials conducted raids on the places tipped as possible hideouts of certain kidnappers to arrest them and recover the hostages. However, they found no kidnappers or hostages at the raided places.

The sources claimed that the information from within the police was leaked out to the criminals minutes before the raid was conducted which helped the kidnappers make their escape good.

The sources also claimed that the AVCC was an extra burden on the provincial exchequer as all the expertise and equipment belonging to the Citizen-Police Liaison Committee was used to trace out kidnappers and recover hostages.

Only acquiring police manpower from the AVCC could not justify its formation, they maintained, and contended that the police manpower could be sought from the concerned police station where a particular incident had taken place.