Kidnapping Capers: Man fakes his abduction

Man had been blackmailing his family by sending them repeated text messages demanding money.

SARGODHA: City police arrested a man for faking his own abduction on Monday. According to police officials, Peoples Colony resident Javed Iqbal Bhatti recently submitted an application with Factory Area police stating that his brother, Zahid Iqbal Bhatti, had been kidnapped while on his way to Faisalabad. During the ongoing investigation, assistant superintendent police (ASP) Javed Iqbal discovered that Zahid Iqbal had been blackmailing his family by sending them repeated text messages demanding money. The police also traced the whereabouts of the suspect and arrested him from a hotel in Murree. During the investigation, Iqbal confessed that he had faked his own abduction to get Rs2 million from his sister who was settled in New York. He had already received Rs150,000 from the family and said that he had hoped that his family would pay the ransom. Police officials have registered a case against Zahid Iqbal Bhatti and taken him into custody.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2011.