Wife denies man’s ‘abduction by cops’

KARACHI:

The wife of a citizen allegedly kidnapped for ransom by a Special Investigation Unit (SIU) inspector and ASI in Federal B Industrial Area denied the charges on Friday, claiming her husband had, in fact, been detained by police in a drug dealing case.

Submitting her statement to relevant authorities in the form of an affidavit, Farzana asserted that the case for her husband Almas Ali’s kidnapping had been registered by Federal B Industrial Area SHO Farrukh Shehryar of his own accord, against Saddar SIU inspector Malik Muhammad Ashraf, ASI Khuda Baksh and other officials.

Declaring that neither she nor her husband had any connection with the case, she related that Almas was taken away by police officials near Shafiq Mor on September 20. She said her family were in their car when cops stopped them and took away her husband.

This was reiterated by Ashraf in his statement, who said he and his team had reached the spot after they received a tip-off about Almas’ presence near Shafiq Mor. According to him, Almas had been on the run in a drug dealing case.

He maintained in his statement that the police had informed Almas about the charges against him, adding that no suspicious item was found in his possession.

According to Farzana, too, the police had informed her they were detaining Almas for his alleged involvement in a drugs case.

She said when the rest of her family found out, they complained on the Madadgar-15 helpline.

In her statement, Farzana confirmed having met Almas in jail after his detention and denied that he was kidnapped for ransom. Dubbing the case registered for her husband’s abduction “a false case,” she demanded its closure and the release of Ashraf, who has been arrested in the case.

Moreover, claiming that her car had been taken into custody by SHO Shehryar, she demanded its return.

When contacted, Shehryar maintained the abduction was registered on valid grounds, adding that all parties had the right to give statements and present witnesses, but the judgment would be made by the court. He said he included sections pertaining to kidnapping in the case after consulting senior officials.

According to police sources, the FIR against SIU officials states that Farzana received a call telling her to arrange for Rs700,000 for Almas’ release.

Anti-Violent Crime Cell inspector Shariq Siddiqui, who has been assigned the case’s investigation, confirmed the submission of Farzana’s written statement.

However, when The Express Tribune called Farzana to confirm this, her sister answered said she did not want to comment on the matter.