Imposter Taliban kidnappers killed in Peshawar ‘shootout’

Police, under-threat family come up with plan to pay fake ransom to catch the culprits.

PESHAWAR: Two kidnappers, posing as members of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), were killed in a shootout with police in Peshawar on Sunday. A policeman was also killed in the exchange of fire.

“The kidnappers were threatening to abduct a child of one of the families in a locality within the precincts of the Yaqatoot Police Station in Peshawar. The group had also been sending letters to the family, written on letterheads of the TTP,” SHO Saifur Rehman told The Express Tribune, adding that the kidnappers had been calling and threatening other families in the area for ransom as well.

The police then came up with a plot to catch the culprits. The family, which was being threatened, was asked to pay Rs0.5 million in ransom to kidnappers near the Ring Road in Peshawar. When the money was paid, police intercepted the kidnappers and gunned them down. However, the kidnappers returned fire and managed to injure an armed police officer, who later died.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th, 2012.