Ruthless people: Man held for ransom recovered after 25 days

Police say kidnapping over disputed payment was planned in jail.

GUJRANWALA:

A man kidnapped a week after his wedding was recovered by the police on Tuesday 25 days after he went missing.

Police said Hafiz Zaman 27, son of Haji Yousaf, residents of People’s Colony on Approach Road, was kidnapped on May 26 by one Mahmood from his home.

Police said that Zaman had been married recently.

They said his brother-in-law, Mudassir, had a dispute with Mahmood’s brother, Sabir alias Sabi, who was imprisoned in the Central Jail, Sheikhupura, over charges of kidnapping for ransom.   They said Muddassir had refused to pay the disputed amount.

To avenge Mudassar, police said, Sabir had plotted with his brother, Mahmood, to kidnap Zaman to recover the money.

Zaman told the police that some men had broken into his house and locked his wife in a room.

He said they beat him up and took him to Sabir’s farm where they detained him in a room with animals.

“They told me they had picked me up because Muddassir had refused to pay them the money he owed them.” He said that he was starved for days and forced to plead his family to pay the ransom.

“In the end they threatened to kill my father unless they were paid,” he said.

The family received a call from the kidnappers a week later with a Rs10 million demand as ransom money.

Muddassir said that the kidnappers gave them a week’s time to arrange the money. “It was impossible to arrange Rs10 million in a week, so we reported the matter to the police.”

The police arrested Mahmood’s father, Abbas Virk.

Police said that soon after Virk was arrested, the family received a call from the kidnappers offering Zaman’s release in exchange of Virk.

DSP Shahid Hafiz said that information obtained from Virk led the investigation teams to Sabir’s farm in Sheikhupura from where they recovered Zaman.

He said that Zaman looked underfed. He said there was no one at the farm at the time the police teams raided the place.

Zaman was taken to his house, where the family welcomed him and the police with flower petals.

Zaman’s father, Muhammad Yousaf, thanked the RPO and the DSP.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22^nd, 2011.