Abducted: After a fiery fight, police rescue actor

Suspects in case include a former cop.

KARACHI: After a risky and violent exchange of ransom by the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) and the Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC), model and actor Hassan Ahmed was recovered from his kidnappers.

Ahmed had been held captive since March 21. One of the main suspects in his case is a former police officer.

CPLC chief Ahmed Chinoy briefed the press on Thursday on the events leading to Ahmed’s release. “Our teams met the kidnappers in a lane near a petrol station in Mehmoodabad. After giving the ransom amount our team intercepted Javed before he reached his car. Our team opened fire which they returned. The kidnapper Javed was shot in the leg two to three times and then arrested.”

The initial ransom demanded by Ahmed’s captors was Rs20 million but after negotiations over the last few weeks, they settled on Rs1.5 million.

After the exchange of fire, three of Javed’s associates took advantage of the dark and managed to escape. But information from Javed led the police to carry out raids in Gulshan-e-Hadeed, Gulistan-e-Jauhar and Drigh Colony. This eventually guided the police to the safe house where they found Ahmed, who had been abandoned by his captors.

AVCC chief SP Ghulam Subhani led the team that rescued Ahmed.

Ahmed was kidnapped when he was using an ATM near Khayaban-e-Shahbaz in the Darakshan police station limits. After retrieving cash from the ATM the kidnappers, in a new Suzuki Alto car, blocked Ahmed’s vehicle. They transferred him to their car and covered his head with a cloth, and dumped Ahmed’s vehicle.

According to Ahmed there were four kidnappers. CPLC believes that one of the suspects is a former ASI named Agha Mansoor, who has worked at the Anti-Car Lifting Cell and then at Garden Headquarters.

“The ASI has already been testified against in the past. He roams around in police uniform carrying weaponry to evade suspicion. I think it’s a good thing that the police have identified a bad egg in their ranks. Every department has criminals within, it’s good this one has been identified,” said Chinoy.

Hassan Ahmed was also at the briefing and testified that he was not mistreated.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 27^th, 2012.