PESHAWAR, Sept 15: The police registered only five cases of kidnapping for ransom during the first eight months of the current year, according to official statistics, while over 30 such cases were reported in the press.

Senior Superintendent of Police (investigation) Dr Sadiq Kamal, during a press conference two months back had admitted that there had been 22 cases of kidnapping for ransom from January to June and 43 people had been arrested on the charges.

He said 15 kidnapped persons had been recovered during the period.

But the police record shows that only five kidnapping cases had been registered and four FIRs were registered last year.

Normally, the police registers a complaint of a person having gone missing in the daily report and no proper FIR is registered in kidnapping cases.

In some cases, the police did not even register a complaint on the  pretext that either the person did not belong to the area or the kidnapping did not occur in its jurisdiction.

The police only register the FIR when the complainant nominates someone for the kidnapping and in most of the cases the kidnappers are not known.

It is learnt that the police in a few cases registered the FIRs after the kidnappers were arrested and the victims recovered.

The attitude of the police has not only encouraged members of two notorious groups of kidnappers — the Siyal and Mujahid groups — belonging  to the tribal areas, but also inspired some local criminals to indulge in the crime.

In almost all the recent cases the families of the kidnapped persons paid ransom for their release.

A poor person of the Gharibabad area, Waliullah, disclosed his deal with kidnappers for the release of his 10-year-old son, Aziz. He said he had paid Rs800,000, which he got from his friend after mortgaging his house.

Though the police arrested two kidnappers a day after the boy’s release, there was no information about recovery of the amount.