GUJRAT, Dec 19: A second-year student of a local commerce college has been kidnapped for a Rs7 million ransom.

Police sources said Saqib Javed, 17, of Islamnagar locality visited Model Town along with a friend to attend a ceremony on Dec 16 from where he went missing.

‘Unidentified abductors’ contacted Saqib’s family from his cell phone and demanded Rs7 million for his safe release.

Saqib Javed is said to be a student of the Gujrat College of Commerce, Bhimber Road, and belonged to a well-off family. His father Javed Iqbal is settled in Greece.

Rehmani police have registered the case.

ADVISER: On the direction of the Punjab Chief Minister, his adviser on police Jahanzeb Burki on Friday came to Gujrat on a one-day visit and held separate meetings with victims of three big robberies occurred in various parts of district and ordered police to intensify efforts to nab the culprits.

A gold and diamond shop in Kharian was robbed off ornaments and foreign currency worth Rs 17.5 million on Dec 17. Kharian traders had observed a shutter-down strike against the robbery on Thursday.

In another strike, cell phones worth Rs 9.5 million were taken away from a cell phone shop on Ramtalai Road some two and half weeks ago while foreign currency dealer of Muslim Bazar was deprived off Rs 8.3 million some eight months ago.

Talking to Dawn by phone, Mr Burki said that he visited the site of fresh robbery in Kharian along with officials of Gujrat police and held separate meetings with other victims in the presence of DPO Riaz Nazeer Gara, SP headquarters Afzaal Kausar and SP investigation Afzal Virk.

He said though he was satisfied with the progress of Gujrat police in these cases, he had issued special directions to police officials concerned.