New twist to recovery of missing man from Excise office
The case of recovery of a kidnapping victim in a raid near the office of the director general of the Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Control by the West district police took a new turn on Sunday.
All three suspects, including the arrested excise official, were declared innocent while the citizen recovered from the excise office was booked as a drug dealer having past criminal record. Police sources said that Ali Hassan Afridi had previously been arrested on drug charges. Sources said that a case was likely to be registered against West Police for misuse of powers.
The Orangi Town and Peerabad police had raided the office of DG Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Control on II Chundrigar Road in the early hours of October 2 in which an allegedly kidnapped man was recovered while three alleged suspects, including an excise official, were arrested.
The investigation of the case, registered at Peerabad police station pertaining to Afridi's kidnapping, was shifted to the Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC). Though Afridi was recovered, the police officers came to know that a case of recovery of eight kilogrammes of cannabis was registered against him on October 1, 2021 at the Excise Police Station. Afridi's family members claim that he has been falsely implicated in the drugs recovery case.
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Police sources said that the accused were arrested by the Anti-Narcotics Force and the Peerabad police before. However, no criminal record was found against the three suspects, including excise police officer Jan Muhammad. Further, no evidence for kidnapping of Afridi was found against them. Sources further said that SSP West Sohai Aziz Talpur had directed SHOs of both the police stations to rescue Afridi, however, when the SSP found out that the recovered person was a criminal and a case was registered against him at the Excise Police Station, she directed the police to follow due course of law.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 4th, 2021.