RAWALPINDI, May 6: A schoolteacher was kidnapped for a ransom of Rs1.5 million, police said on Sunday.

Rehmat Mehmood, a resident of Narowal (Sialkot), came to Rawalpindi along with his younger brother Shahid Mehmood to meet their sister living in Chah Sultan area on April 28.

In his complaint lodged with the Waris Khan police, Shahid said that on April 19 his brother left the house for Sabzi Mandi Islamabad to visit his friends saying he would return in the evening.

“When Rehmat did not return after sunset and his cellphone was found switched off, I started calling his friends who denied that he had visited them,” he added.

He said later he went back to his native town and searched his brother there. On May 1, he added, an unidentified man called him and said Rehmat was in his captivity in Peshawar and demanded Rs1.5 million for his safe release.

Mirza Jameel Baig, the deputy superintendent of police city circle, confirmed that a schoolteacher from Narowal had been kidnapped and a case was registered after the victim’s brother approached the police on Saturday night.

He said efforts had been launched to recover the victim and arrest the kidnappers. He said the kidnappers had been negotiating with the victim’s family to settle the ransom money.