‘Honey trapping’ gang busted

LAYYAH:

The Fatehpur Police in Layyah arrested two women who police accused of being members of a gang allegedly involved in kidnapping people for ransom.

Police also claimed to have secured release of a hostage Sarwar who had been kidnapped by the gang some time ago.

Police said that the gang used to hook people on one pretext or the other, and once those folks walked into the trap the suspects would hold them hostage for ransom.

Police said the suspects made indecent videos of their hostages to blackmail them.

Police arrested two women who were accused of honey trapping people and then having them kidnapped for ransom.

Police conducted a raid in Chak No. 222 TDA and recovered a man who had been held hostage there.

As mentioned earlier, police had arrested two women suspects and registered a case against them.

Police also claimed to have recovered mobile phones, videos and weapons from the possession of the suspects.

Police said that the women suspects had allegedly seduced M Sarwar with a marriage proposal and then had him kidnapped.

The gang snatched Rs50,000 from him and contacted his family for more money.

SHO Abid Hussain said that police had been after six other members of the gang. He expressed his optimism that the suspects would be arrested soon.

It was reported on these pages in February this year that kidnappings were common in the Kacha areas of South Punjab and Sindh, and they were a lucrative avenue for criminals to generate money. The decades-old method of honey-trapping people and kidnapping them for ransom has been adopted by these criminals and since September last year, at least five cases of abduction for ransom by suspects based in riverine areas were reported in the provincial capital.

Initially, kidnappers would target influential and wealthy personalities in adjoining districts and areas to lure them to their hideout and release them after receiving a ransom. However, with the passage of time, their methods evolved and kidnappers in Kacha areas have been honey-trapping their victims.

The suspects lure the victims by offering monetary benefits, like a tractor for a cheap price, buying them livestock and other hollow promises. Women luring victims through building a romantic relationship and enticing them to visit the area has also been employed as a tactic for quite some time.

One of the victims of such criminals was Tasveer Hussain. The man had travelled to Khushab for work from his house in Chung, eventually losing contact with his family and causing his son to report his disappearance. His son had registered a complaint with the police after the family had received a call for ransom. The suspected kidnappers had demanded a ransom of over Rs5 million at the time.

After registration of the case, police launched an investigation and traced the ransom call to have originated from a riverine area in South Punjab.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 16^th, 2023.