Police recover kidnapped man lured by ‘woman’

Kidnappers lured the cloth merchant in their trap before taking him hostage on June 6

SUKKUR: The police recovered a cloth merchant, who was kidnapped in Khanpur on June 6, during a raid in katcha area near Mehmoodabad in Lakhi Ghulam Shah taluka of district Shikarpur on Wednesday morning.

Addressing a press conference, Sukkur SSP Amjad Ahmed Shaikh said that Saleem Kamboh, a cloth merchant of Lakha Road in Naushahro Feroze, and his family visited Sukkur on June 6 for shopping. Saleem sent his family back to Lakha Road and stayed in the city on the pretext of a business meeting. According to the SSP, Saleem was in contact with a woman in Khanpur, Shikarpur, over the phone. After sending his family back, he went to meet the woman. However, Saleem was instead taken hostage and realised he had been fooled by the kidnappers, the SSP said.

The kidnappers contacted Saleem's family on June 9 and demanded Rs50 million as ransom. The kidnappers also threatened to kill him if the ransom was not paid, the SSP said. He said that the police were monitoring the movement of the kidnappers, adding that the suspects shifted Saleem to Mehmoodabad a few days back.

A police team, led by senior inspector Qalandar Bux Soomro, raided the area and after an exchange of fire managed to recover Saleem. The kidnappers managed to escape, however, the gang has been identified and is being led by alleged dacoits Nazir Shar and Arib alias Jhirki Teghani, the SSP added.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 23^rd, 2016.