Lost and found: FIR revoked after ‘abducted’ pastor denies kidnapping

The FIR says Victor Samuel was abducted by seven armed assailants, three of whom were wearing police uniforms

LAHORE:

A kidnapping case in Toba Tek Singh was cancelled after the pastor believed to have been kidnapped appeared before the police on Tuesday and submitted that no such incident had taken place.

The pastor, Victor Samuel, was accompanied by his brother, Sikandar Samuel, the complainant in the kidnapping FIR registered by City police on July 8. In the affidavit, the Samuel brothers submitted that a misunderstanding had led Sikander Samuel to file an application for registration of the kidnapping case.

Talking to The Express Tribune, the investigation officer said that the brothers had refused to answer questions concerning Victor Samuel’s whereabouts before his reappearance in Christian Colony where he heads the main church.

The IO said Tuesday’s affidavit was the only statements received from the pastor or his brother following the former’s reappearance about two weeks ago.

In the FIR registered on July 8, Sikander Samuel had submitted that his brother was abducted by seven armed assailants, three of whom were wearing police uniforms.

It said the kidnappers had introduced themselves as officials from RA Bazaar police station in Lahore. It said they had questioned the pastor about his former wife, a United States citizen, and examined some files on his laptop computer and his cell phone. It said the abductors had seized the laptop, the cell phone and some documents.

The FIR stated that the abductors had shown them court warrants, issued by a Lahore-based judicial magistrate identified as Mian Shahid Amin Joiya.

It said the brothers were taken away in a police vehicle and another car but Sikander Samuel was abandoned near Gojra Bypass Road.

The investigation officer told the Tribune that RA Bazaar police in Lahore had denied sending a team to arrest anyone from Toba Tek Singh.

The officer said he had also been unable to trace any judicial magistrate in the province with the name mentioned in the FIR.

Robin Samuel, an uncle of Victor Samuel, told the Tribune that the latter had divorced his American wife in April. He said the marriage had lasted for four years.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 6^th, 2012.