Ex-cops booked for running kidnapping racket

A gang of former Rawalpindi police employees has been involved in honey trap schemes and short-term abductions for ransom. The suspects, aided by women accomplices, lured victims and demanded a ransom of Rs10 million. The Islamabad police have registered a case against them.

According to a spokesperson for Rawalpindi police, the accused were already dismissed from service prior to these incidents. The case was filed at the Sangjani Police Station in Islamabad after Mazain Khan, a resident of Kohat, reported the crime. Khan claimed that a woman contacted him under the guise of love and convinced him to meet in Islamabad. Upon arriving at the specified location in the federal capital, Khan met the woman, only to be ambushed by three armed men in Punjab police uniforms.

The suspects, using weapons, abducted him, handcuffed him and forced him into a car. They searched both Khan and his friend, stealing their money and mobile phones. While being driven around the streets, the criminals demanded that Khan call his family and arrange for a ransom of Rs10 million. During this ordeal, they spotted a vehicle belonging to the Islamabad police, and in a desperate move, Khan managed to pull the handbrake with his handcuffed hands, causing the vehicle to stop. The federal police intervened and halted the car, at which point the suspects fled the scene, leaving their victims behind.

The gang involved in the kidnapping included one woman and three men. The FIR names Constable Zahid Osman and Constable Afaaq Tariq from Punjab police, along with Shahid Iqbal and Nadia, a woman from Peshawar.

The Islamabad police have registered the FIR and are investigating the case.