LAHORE, March 28: Iqbal Town CIA police claim to have solved a kidnap-for-ransom case, arresting three alleged criminals after recovering from their custody the victim and the ransom amount.

Investigation SSP Abdul Razaq Cheema referred the case to the CIA police and constituted a team headed by Iqbal Town CIA DSP Anwar Saeed Kingra for the arrest of the suspects.

Mr Saeed told Dawn Arshad alias Asif, was a proclaimed offender and wanted by police in a number of cases registered against him in Lahore and Kasur. The outlaw had been committing crime with the help of his accomplices Akram, Shahbaz Ali and Imtiaz, he added.

He said Arshad and his accomplices booked a taxi car, owned and driven by Kamran Niaz, for Lahore from Cheechawatni on Feb 7, 2011.

After reaching Lahore, the suspects held Kamran Niaz hostage at gunpoint, detaining him in a rented house in Green Town. They later contacted Niaz's brother and demanded Rs1 million for his safe release.

The DSP said Niaz's brother and a cousin arranged the money and reached Lahore the same day. The kidnappers asked them to drop the money near a tree in Raiwind City and threatened them of dire consequences if they informed police about the kidnap. They did what they were told to do by the outlaws.

After collecting the amount, the suspects dropped Niaz near Thokar Niaz Beg.

Kingra said after receiving the ransom amount, the kidnappers got emboldened and contacted the victim family, asking them to arrange Rs150,000 more, otherwise they would kidnap Niaz again.

Meanwhile, the DSP said, the police traced the location of the kidnappers in Liaqatabad through the record of their cell phone calls and arrested them.

The police recovered from their possession three snatched motorcycles, two television sets, six mobile phones and the ransom amount, along with illegal weapons and the car.

ARRESTTED: Harbanspura police claimed to have arrested an alleged outlaw wanted in 21 cases and recovered from his possession the looted money, illegal weapons and cell phones.

Cantonment SP (Investigation) Amin Bukhari said the accused, Saleem alias Saleemi, was ringleader of a gang of robbers whose two members, Tanveer Ahmad and Sabir Ali, had been killed in a police encounter in Harbanspura a week ago.

He said a team headed by investigation in charge Zahid Hussain arrested the accused in a raid conducted at a rented house. Saleem's three accomplices managed to escape from the raided house, he added.

During interrogation, the police recovered from Saleem's possession Rs70,000, two cell phones and two unlicensed pistols, the SP said, adding the accused and his accomplices were wanted by police in cases of murder, robbery and other heinous crime. — Staff Reporter