PESHAWAR, Dec 13: A first-year student was kidnapped for ransom here on Tuesday morning, police said. Inayat informed the Yakatoot police that his son Kamil, a first-year student of Benevolent Fund Higher Secondary School in Gulshan Rehman Colony, had left his home in Mominabad on Tuesday morning for the college. However, he said, some unknown people picked up Kamil near his home and drove away.

Inayat said Kamil had been kidnapped for ransom.

Meanwhile, the Capital City Police record shows a sharp increase in crime in 2005 over last year’s figures. Seventeen people have so far been kidnapped for ransom this year as against seven abducted last year.

From Jan 1 to Dec 11, 392 murder cases have been registered, up by 64 such cases of last year. In 2004, police registered 441 cases of attempt to murder. In the current year, this category of crime has witnessed an increase of 25 cases. Rape cases also showed a sharp increase this year. So far, eight rape cases have been registered against three reported last year.

Abduction for rape has, however, decreased. Last year 37 women were abducted, while this year only 20 cases of the same nature have been registered. This year, 118 vehicles were stolen in the city. In 2004, 78 car-lifting cases were registered.

The cases of robberies, burglaries, assault on police and civilians, pickpocket and theft have also increased this year.