LAHORE, Oct 19: Two suspects of kidnapping a seven-year-old boy for ransom were killed in a shootout between their alleged accomplices and police in Baghbanpura who were taken there to point out the hideout of their accomplices, but struck in the crossfire, the police said on Friday.
During preliminary interrogation, Muhammad Asif of Harbanspura and Abdul Nabi, alias Ghulam Nabi, of Rawalpindi admitted to have kidnapped Awais Saqib of Harabanspura on Sept 28. They claimed that their remaining accomplices were hiding in a house in Baghbanpura where the police team raided on Friday morning and the two suspects were killed in the ensuing crossfire.
Saqib left his house to fetch balloons from a nearby shop when a car pulled up alongside him and four kidnappers, including a woman, forced him into the vehicle and fled.
The next day, the kidnappers rang on the cell phone of Saqib’s uncle, Mian Ishfaq, and demanded Rs20 million ransom to free the child. They remained in contact with father and uncle of the child, insisting them to pay the ransom money otherwise they would kill the child.
As a result of negotiations, the kidnappers agreed to release the boy for Rs4.8 million, and directed his relatives to travel on Karachi-bound Hazara Express from Lahore and drop ransom money from running train near Dera Nawab locality on the Lahore-Karachi railway track seeing a piece of cloth being waved at them. The boy’s father followed the directives.
Later, the kidnappers asked Saqib’s father to pick his son from Pir Vadhai area in Rawalpindi, which he did. On returning to Lahore, he, however, narrated the sordid tale to the police.
Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Malik Muhammad Iqbal formed two teams headed by SP Mughalpura and SP Investigation Cantt to trace the culprits.
The police teams collected information about the cellular and fixed phones used in the crime and knew that cellular calls were made from Dhok Saeedan locality in Rawalpindi and fixed calls from a landline number installed in a flat G-9 Sector, Islamabad.
The police succeeded in spotting one suspect Abdul Rahseed from G-9 Sector who was the cousin of prime suspect Abdul Nabi who was later arrested from Dhok Saeedan.
During investigations, Abdul Nabi informed the police that Muhammad Asif of Harbanspura, Lahore, and some other people were also involved in the crime.
The police also arrested Muhammad Asif and seized Rs400,000 and three cell phones from him.
The police said during further investigations, the arrested suspects pointed out that their remaining accomplices were hiding in a house in Mehran Park, Asif Colony, Baghbanpura. They also led a police team to raid that house in wee hours on Friday. During the raid, they asked their accomplices to come out of their hideout and surrender but on seeing the police team, they refused to come out and instead resorted to firing. The police retaliated and Muhammad Asif and Abdul Nabi were injured in the crossfire. They were taken to the hospital, but to no avail. Their accomplices, however, fled. A police statement issued here on Friday said that a special team had been formed to arrest the fleeing suspects. The CCPO has announced commendatory certificates and prizes for policemen who solved the crime, it added.