Rescue: Police recover two kidnapped men

One alleged kidnaper arrested, three accomplices escaped.

RAWALPINDI: Efficient work by the Rawalpindi police on Wednesday led to the rescue of two kidnapped men without any ransom being paid. The police also arrested an alleged kidnapper.

Westridge Police SHO Raja Nadeem Zafar told The Express Tribune that they received a call early in the morning that unidentified men had kidnapped Advocate Taufiq Ahmed Awan and his friend Tanveer Ahmed, an employee of the Election Commission of Pakistan, from Habib Colony near Chakra, and that the kidnappers were demanding ransoms from their families.

The SHO said that the kidnappers had demanded Rs1 million from the lawyer’s family and Rs500,000 from Ahmed’s family.

He said a police party headed by Assistant-Sub Inspector Shamraiz accompanied the victims’ relatives to the location where the ransom money was supposed to be handed over to the kidnappers.

According to the police official, the police party parked their vehicle near Chakra and hid around the location, while the brother of the lawyer went to pay the ransom.

According to the SHO, during the exchange, the kidnapper spotted the police and opened fire. The police retaliated, he said, adding that a police ASI and a kidnapper were injured in the incident.

The injured kidnapper was arrested, while his accomplices fled in a vehicle with one of the kidnapped men. The police caught up with them near the motorway, where the kidnappers abandoned the victim, and their ammunition while escaping on foot. He said both kidnapped men have been recovered unhurt.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 3^rd, 2016.