Abduction FIR against 'trespassing' Punjab CTD

Official held hostage after his team's botched bid to arrest local businessman

PESHAWAR:

The Punjab Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) was out of its depth, and indeed out of its province, when it found itself in a bit of a pickle in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa after one of its members was caught and detained by locals.

In the Town police station area, relatives of a local contractor detained a Punjab CTD officer and locked him in a room after his team attempted to arrest their family member.

It was not until the K-P police arrived at the scene and managed to rescue the CTD official that he was freed. However, the official landed in further hot water when the provincial police registered cases against him on various charges including abduction.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police Akhtar Hayat Khan took notice of the incident after which a formal FIR was registered, and an investigation was initiated.

According to the report filed at the Town police station, Peer Muhammad, son of Shoaib Khil, a resident of Phase 1, Hayatabad, stated that he was at his office in Gul Sher Car Parking near Doctor Hostel at Khyber Teaching Hospital when two individuals approached him. They said that a colonel wanted to speak with him outside.

As soon as he stepped out, four to six armed men in a pickup truck, which had no license plate, tried to abduct him. However, his son Samiullah, along with Gul Muhammad and other relatives, intervened and saved him. They captured one of the abductors while the others fled.

The captured individual had various identification cards and initially claimed to be Major Zarrar. Peer Muhammad informed the police, who then took the suspect into custody.

A commotion occurred during the attempted abduction, and CCTV footage showing the kidnappers being detained by Peer Muhammad and his relatives went viral. In a video message, one of the captured suspects, Atal Khan, claimed to be a sub-inspector with the Faisalabad CTD and said he was in Peshawar on a mission to target suspicious individuals as part of operations against a banned organisation.

The FIR includes charges under sections 365, 511, 506, 148, and 149, though the names of the suspects have not been disclosed.

Police officials stated that the detained individual is indeed a Faisalabad CTD officer who attempted to abduct the contractor without notifying the local police. The officials further clarified that while they will support personnel from other provinces, including those coming to Peshawar, they must follow legal procedures and have complete documentation and permission. They confirmed that legal action has been taken against the detained CTD officer, and an FIR has been registered.

Video message

In a video message, Peer Muhammad, a businessman and contractor, alleged that Punjab Police abducts businesspeople from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and takes them to unknown locations. He claimed that ransom demands amounting to millions of rupees are then made through various phone numbers, forcing many businesspeople to leave Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and move abroad

Specific instructions

In response to the incident where Punjab CTD personnel attempted to abduct a citizen from Peshawar's University Town area without permission or notification, K-P Police have issued instructions to officers across the province. The instructions state that any police force from other provinces coming to KP must have an FIR or court order, and they must inform local police before conducting any raids. Otherwise, legal action will be taken against any unauthorised raids. The guidelines further specify that if the Punjab, Sindh, or Islamabad Police do not have an arrest warrant, they will not be allowed to conduct any raids.