Journalist fakes kidnapping

The kidnapping of a journalist, Fayaz Solangi, from Khairpur district last week has turned out to be a drama staged allegedly by the captive in connivance with his uncle and friends.

The SSPs of Khairpur and Kashmore-Kandkot districts, Touheed Rehman Memon and Zubair Nazeer Shaikh disclosed at a press conference, held after recovering Fayaz Solangi from a riverbed area of Kashmore-Kandhkot, on Sunday.

"His uncle, Mazhar Ali Solangi, played the central role in this drama," claimed Memon. "On his disclosure ... we recovered Fayaz on Saturday night [from the Jamal area in Kashmore]." According to him, three suspects including Mazhar have been arrested in connection with the staged kidnapping while the police are continuing their hunt for the other suspects.

The police geared up in action after a video of Fayaz's kidnapping was posted on his Facebook account on January 17 and the Sindh chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah took its notice. He was seen crying in that video for his safe recovery as an unseen man was pointing a rifle on his head. The journalists across the province also staged protests on January 18 demanding his release.

According to the SSP, they first rounded up a man identified as Shah Dost who later led them to Mazhar before the uncle revealed the whereabouts of Fayaz who was actually hiding while pretending to have been abducted. Fayaz says he took recourse to such a theatrical performance because he wanted some edge in his ongoing land dispute with his uncles.

The Sindhi news channel and newspaper where Fayaz used to work sacked him after the disclosure. Fayaz is also reportedly an employee of the Sindh Livestock Department.