Kidnapping in 2010: Policeman grilled over ransom letter case

KARACHI:

The investigating officer in the case of an alleged kidnapping in 2010 was cross examined about a ransom demand letter reportedly received by the victim’s brother.

The officer testified in Anti-Terrorism Court II on Tuesday that the victim’s brother gave him a letter with a ransom demand. However, the defendants’ lawyer asked if he was aware whether the victim’s brother had stated in court that he never gave the letter to the officer.

The case relates to a 2010 kidnapping in Karachi. The Anti-Violent Crimes Cell managed to rescue the victim and arrest three suspects. However, the men accused – under sections 365-A and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code – have told the court that two other people called Mir Hazar Khan and Khadim Jatoi were involved in the case.

The officer was also asked if he had “taken any writing samples from the accused” to verify if it was their handwriting on the letter. The officer said he hadn’t because “during the investigation they said that the letter was written by Mir Hazar Khan.”

The judge has asked the prosecution and the defence to corroborate whether the weapons recovered during the raid, carried out to arrest the accused, were theirs at the next hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 30^th, 2012.