Ex-WAPDA worker kidnapped from Pindi dies in captivity

Held captive for two months, abductee dies under mysterious circumstances

RAWALPINDI:

The 70-year-old former WAPDA employee who had been kidnapped from the RA Bazaar area of Rawalpindi within the limits of Tench Bhata police station and held captive in Kashmore, Sindh for a ransom of Rs20 million died under mysterious circumstances after being in captivity for two months.

The abductors disposed of the captive’s body within the limits of the Nepalkot police station in Kashmore and escaped. The body was identified from the victim’s driving license found inside his pocket. On receiving this information from the Sindh police, a team of the RA Bazaar police was dispatched to Sindh to verify the dead body’s identity and transfer it to Rawalpindi.

As per the details of the case, the former WAPDA employee, Agha Sohail Khan, had boarded the train to Sukkur from Rawalpindi station, which is where his son last saw him. After reaching Sukkur, on March 6, Khan phoned a friend, Amjad, and told him of his safe arrival in Sindh.

However, from that point onwards, Khan’s phone was switched off and his family were unable to contact him. His family contacted Amjad, who also reported that he had not received any recent calls from Khan. On March 11, Amjad’s son registered a case of kidnapping at the Tench Bhata Police station.

Around this time, Khan’s family started receiving calls from Khan’s number demanding a ransom of Rs20 million. As negotiations for the ransom continued, the abductors also demanded the family send Khan’s medication as his frail health had begun to worsen under conditions of captivity.

Eventually, the abductors reduced the ransom amount, first to Rs10 million, then to Rs 0.7 million and finally, they brought it down to Rs1.5 to Rs1 million. However, the family were still unable to assure the abductors of the payment.

Then on Wednesday, Naib Muharrar Sabir of Nepalkot police station of Kashmore contacted the RA Bazaar police station and informed them of a dead body that they had identified as belonging to Agha Sohail Khan.

Published in The Express Tribune May 10^th, 2024.