How an asthmatic and a computer programmer were saved from kidnappers
Cousins Fawad and Yasin Arain enjoy their freedom after five months in captivity.
SUKKUR:
After spending five months in captivity, Fawad and Yasin Arain are surprisingly able to joke about their ordeal. “Sahi ki kut lagai unhon ne meri [they beat me up real good],” laughed Yasin.
The two cousins were kidnapped on September 4, 2010, while driving to Karachi from Hyderabad. Yasir’s father, Sarwar Arain, had lodged an FIR with the Jamshoro police.
During a news conference on Tuesday, Sukkur DIG Zafar Abbas Bukhari disclosed that the two hostages were found after an encounter in Dad Leghari, Ghotki district, on Monday night. Ghotki DPO Pir Muhammad Shah was also present in the meeting.
Recalling that night, Yasir said that their car was stopped on the highway by armed men. “Our boss wants to talk to you because the car you are driving is stolen,” said Yasir quoting the kidnapper. “As soon as I leaned over to talk to the boss, one of them pushed me in the car and aimed a pistol at me. He said: ‘Be quiet or you will be killed’.”
The kidnappers forced them into the car and drove away. Two and a half hours later, the car stopped near a banana orchard. On the night of September 5, the kidnappers made the two boys sleep on the rooftop of a truck and covered them with a cloth. “Two men kept sitting beside us.”
After another long drive, Yasir said, the truck reached a desert, from where they were taken to an abandoned house on motorcycles. The kidnappers kept them tied in chains but they used to take them off during prayer times. “On September 21, the kidnappers allowed me to talk to my maternal uncle. I told him that we have been kidnapped and the kidnappers are demanding Rs20 million as ransom.”
“We were lucky enough to escape from the hideout on the night of September 29 and we kept running for about two hours,” Yasir narrated. Pointing towards his cousin, Yasir said that he is an asthma patient and started to cough. “The kidnappers managed to reach our hideout and caught us,” he added. “That night they beat me blue and black.” On November 22, the kidnappers allowed Yasir to call his parents and then again on December 16. “I told my father to give them what they are demanding, though we could not afford to pay Rs20 million.” The kidnappers finally settled for Rs2 million and Yasir conveyed this to his father on February 5.
On Monday night, nearly a week after he talked to his father, the police raided the hideout. An exchange of fire took place during which the kidnappers tried to shift the boys to another location but failed. “At last, the kidnappers fled and the police found us,” said Yasir. He denied that his family paid any money for his release.
The DIG said that they managed to get to the kidnappers, with the help of the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee, by tracing calls from their mobile phones.
The Ghotki DPO added that the police raided the hideout of a hardened criminal, Perwez Mirani, near Dad Leghari, but could not find him. They interrogated Mirani’s uncle and other relatives, who only said that Mirani was involved in suspicious activities. That night, the police returned without any success.
Later, an unidentified person called the DPO and told him that the police had reached the right place. That person said that the kidnapped people were being kept only a few metres away. This information led the police to conduct a successful raid again. After completing his graduation, Yasir was working as a programmer with Kingston University, UK, while his cousin, Fawad, son of Mohammad Jameel Arain, is studying in Karachi.
Anti-kidnapping team
Sukkur DIG Zafar Abbas Bukhari said that he has constituted an anti-kidnapping team, which will work under his supervision. This team will be responsible for busting criminal gangs involved in kidnapping for ransom, especially on the highways. The team will keep its activities a secret because the “presence of black sheep” can risk information being leaked to the culprits, said Bukhari.
“There are three to four gangs of kidnappers operating on the highways,” he said. Referring to the strategy of the gangs involved in the kidnapping for ransom, he said that one of them kidnaps the person and another one makes phone calls to their relatives from a different location. It is also observed that people are kidnapped from the jurisdiction of one district and their vehicles are found from another. This creates a dispute between the relevant police stations, he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 16th, 2011.
After spending five months in captivity, Fawad and Yasin Arain are surprisingly able to joke about their ordeal. “Sahi ki kut lagai unhon ne meri [they beat me up real good],” laughed Yasin.
The two cousins were kidnapped on September 4, 2010, while driving to Karachi from Hyderabad. Yasir’s father, Sarwar Arain, had lodged an FIR with the Jamshoro police.
During a news conference on Tuesday, Sukkur DIG Zafar Abbas Bukhari disclosed that the two hostages were found after an encounter in Dad Leghari, Ghotki district, on Monday night. Ghotki DPO Pir Muhammad Shah was also present in the meeting.
Recalling that night, Yasir said that their car was stopped on the highway by armed men. “Our boss wants to talk to you because the car you are driving is stolen,” said Yasir quoting the kidnapper. “As soon as I leaned over to talk to the boss, one of them pushed me in the car and aimed a pistol at me. He said: ‘Be quiet or you will be killed’.”
The kidnappers forced them into the car and drove away. Two and a half hours later, the car stopped near a banana orchard. On the night of September 5, the kidnappers made the two boys sleep on the rooftop of a truck and covered them with a cloth. “Two men kept sitting beside us.”
After another long drive, Yasir said, the truck reached a desert, from where they were taken to an abandoned house on motorcycles. The kidnappers kept them tied in chains but they used to take them off during prayer times. “On September 21, the kidnappers allowed me to talk to my maternal uncle. I told him that we have been kidnapped and the kidnappers are demanding Rs20 million as ransom.”
“We were lucky enough to escape from the hideout on the night of September 29 and we kept running for about two hours,” Yasir narrated. Pointing towards his cousin, Yasir said that he is an asthma patient and started to cough. “The kidnappers managed to reach our hideout and caught us,” he added. “That night they beat me blue and black.” On November 22, the kidnappers allowed Yasir to call his parents and then again on December 16. “I told my father to give them what they are demanding, though we could not afford to pay Rs20 million.” The kidnappers finally settled for Rs2 million and Yasir conveyed this to his father on February 5.
On Monday night, nearly a week after he talked to his father, the police raided the hideout. An exchange of fire took place during which the kidnappers tried to shift the boys to another location but failed. “At last, the kidnappers fled and the police found us,” said Yasir. He denied that his family paid any money for his release.
The DIG said that they managed to get to the kidnappers, with the help of the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee, by tracing calls from their mobile phones.
The Ghotki DPO added that the police raided the hideout of a hardened criminal, Perwez Mirani, near Dad Leghari, but could not find him. They interrogated Mirani’s uncle and other relatives, who only said that Mirani was involved in suspicious activities. That night, the police returned without any success.
Later, an unidentified person called the DPO and told him that the police had reached the right place. That person said that the kidnapped people were being kept only a few metres away. This information led the police to conduct a successful raid again. After completing his graduation, Yasir was working as a programmer with Kingston University, UK, while his cousin, Fawad, son of Mohammad Jameel Arain, is studying in Karachi.
Anti-kidnapping team
Sukkur DIG Zafar Abbas Bukhari said that he has constituted an anti-kidnapping team, which will work under his supervision. This team will be responsible for busting criminal gangs involved in kidnapping for ransom, especially on the highways. The team will keep its activities a secret because the “presence of black sheep” can risk information being leaked to the culprits, said Bukhari.
“There are three to four gangs of kidnappers operating on the highways,” he said. Referring to the strategy of the gangs involved in the kidnapping for ransom, he said that one of them kidnaps the person and another one makes phone calls to their relatives from a different location. It is also observed that people are kidnapped from the jurisdiction of one district and their vehicles are found from another. This creates a dispute between the relevant police stations, he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 16th, 2011.