Though the highest ever number of ransom cases has been reported in the last couple of years, the cases recorded during the first two months of 2010 indicate that the figure may go up further by the year's end.

Ninety-two cases of abduction for ransom were reported in 2008, closely followed by 85 cases in 2009, indicating an increase in number of kidnappings since 1990 when 79 cases were reported. However, during the first two months of this year, 19 ransom cases have been reported in addition to four to five cases that went unreported. If the number of abductions does not reduce in the coming months, the city may record more than 100 cases this year.

The data collected by Dawn shows that it was not just the number of cases that increased but many high-profile persons were abducted by kidnappers. Besides, police also unearthed three Taliban-linked cases of kidnapping for ransom during the last two years. Transporter Shaukat Afridi, film producer Satish Anand and businessman Aqeel Haji were kidnapped by the Taliban to generate funds.

Last year, a young nephew of an additional inspector-general of the police was kidnapped for ransom from Defence. The kidnapping set alarm bells ringing in the department of Sindh police. The police suspected the involvement of his driver in the abduction. They managed to recover the captive from an interior part of Sindh, but despite their all-out efforts, the police failed to arrest any of the captors.

Generally, law-enforcement agencies are not able to apprehend gangs involved in kidnappings for ransom, with the result that ransom cases' graph is on the rise and the heinous crime has turned into a profitable industry.

It has been observed that law-enforcement agencies often play a role of broker whether they are dealing with ransom or extortion cases.

Highly placed sources privy to the law-enforcement agencies said that a new trend had been witnessed in the recent past, where victims' families avoided seeking help of law enforcers and settled kidnap cases by paying ransom to kidnappers. This had been true especially in the cases where children belonging to affluent families were kidnapped, the sources added.

According to the Anti-Violent Crime Cell data pertaining to the kidnappings, there were 71 reported cases of kidnapping in the city in 2009. Of them, 58 FIRs were registered while 13 kidnap cases were not reported primarily due to the reluctance on part of the families to lodge a case.

In the preceding year of 2008, 84 cases were reported. Sixty-five cases were registered and the FIRs of 19 other incidents were not registered, the data showed.

A senior police officer said that involvement of a close or distant relative had come to fore in most cases where children were kidnapped, though he admitted the fact that the kidnapping for ransom had become a lucrative business.

However, the newly appointed chief of the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee, Ahmed Chanoi, said that families did approach the committee and police by reporting the kidnapping.

“We console the families in their hour of distress and tell them how to negotiate with kidnapers. In all such cases our priority is the safe recovery of the victim,” Mr Chanoi said.

He conceded that arrest of captors before the payment of ransom was difficult.

The CPLC chief said kidnappers were adapting new methods with the passage of time. For instance, he explained, they kept a captive in the city and made ransom calls from Peshawar.