KARACHI, March 20 The arrest and grilling of a retired army major in Islamabad led to the capture in Karachi of suspected militants believed to be behind the kidnapping of film-maker and distributor Satish Anand, officials privy to the investigations told Dawn on Friday.

Well-placed sources said that the Islamabad police arrested retired major Haroon Ashique in the federal capital on account of his alleged ties with some extremist and militant organisations.

As interrogators quizzed him about his links with radical outfits, they found out that the ex-serviceman was the ringleader of a gang of “motivated” kidnappers.

He reportedly told them that his gang was behind the kidnapping of Mr Anand, the chief executive of Eveready Pictures, who he said was being kept somewhere in the tribal areas.

Acting on the information provided by the retired major, Karachi police arrested two of his accomplices, Mohammad Basit Abu Bakar and Salmanuz Zaman Siddiqui, in KDA Scheme 1 and Bahadurabad areas.

Suspects Abu Bakar and Siddiqui have recently been remanded in police custody till March 30 by the administrative judge of the anti-terrorism courts in Karachi.

The Anti-Violent Crime Cell had produced the suspects in court in connection with the kidnapping of Mr Anand.

Sources in the Islamabad police told Dawn that retired major Ashique had voluntarily sought premature retirement from the army and afterwards set up his business in Karachi.

They said that Mr Ashique's brother, also a major from the army's special services group, obtained premature retirement. He went to Afghanistan where he was reportedly killed while fighting the Nato-led forces.

With regard to the duo arrested in Karachi, senior police officials said that one of them had monitored the routine and movement of Mr Anand for about a month before making the final move of kidnapping him.

However, they said that the role of their gang was limited to the kidnapping of the film-maker and handing over him to another gang. The second gang might comprise militants fighting the government in the tribal areas, they added.

Although the retired major disclosed that Mr Anand had been transported from Karachi to the tribal areas, the investigators said they were also looking at the possibility of Mr Anand being kept somewhere in the metropolis.

Mr Anand was kidnapped by unidentified men in the limits of the Frere police station on October 20, 2008 while he was on his way to his house in the Defence area.

Investigators quoting the driver said that four persons riding two motorcycles intercepted their car near the racecourse traffic signal near Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman Road.

Mistaking the suspects for small-time cellphone-snatchers, Mr Anand asked his driver, Gul Baig, to stop the car.

However, the kidnappers got into the car, with the one occupying the front passenger seat administering an injection to the driver with some sedatives and the ones occupying the backseat taking Mr Anand hostage at gunpoint.

When the driver came to, Mr Anand was missing, said a senior police officer.

An FIR was subsequently lodged with the Frere police station on the complaint of the driver.

After a lapse of around one month, a ransom call demanding one million pounds was received by the family, said the senior police officer.

The Radio Base Station (RBS) from where the call was made was located in Bannu, NWFP.

Considering the technique used in administration of an injection to the driver and a ransom call from the tribal areas, investigators are coming to the conclusion that a militant outfit is behind the kidnapping of Mr Anand.

The sources informed Dawn that Mrs Anand had met President Asif Ali Zardari, requesting him to make all-out efforts to secure the early release of her husband.

They said that the president had assured her that all resources would be employed to secure the safe recovery of Mr Anand.