Kidnapping episode: Shahbaz Taseer recounts tale of horror

Shahbaz Taseer, who spent four years in the captivity of militants, recounted the pain of his ordeal with the BBC Urdu Service.

The son of slain Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer was kidnapped from Lahore on 26 August, 2011, and managed to flee his abductors on March 8 this year. He was recovered

Talking to the BBC Urdu service, Shahbaz said he was in the custody of militants associated with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) until recently when the outfit clashed with the Afghan Taliban over swearing allegiance to the Islamic State.



Recalling the horrific details of torture, he said his captors severely tortured him and filmed their brutal acts.

“They started with lashing me more than 500 times in three to four days. Then they slashed my back with blades and pulled out flesh with pliers,” he said. “They pulled nails from my fingers and toes. They buried me twice, once for seven days and then for another three days.”

He recalled that the militants used to keep him unfed for days and even once stitched his mouth shut.

“They did not provide me food for many days; seven or 10 days that I do not remember exactly. They once shot me in the leg. I was lucky it did not damage the bone and passed through the flesh only. Towards the end, I had become so hard that I started challenging them to do whatever they wanted.

“They tortured me to film it. They would tell me in advance about the torture planned for the next day. They would say: ‘Tomorrow we are going to pull your nails out.’ I used to pray the whole night,” Shahbaz said. “All praise to Allah, He ended my agony,”

Asked if any ransom was paid for his release, he said he had fled an Afghan jail with the help of a Taliban fighter. “I did not pay any money. Rather I took their Rs10,000,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2016.