Kidnappings for ransom: Protesters block Motorway for 8 hours

ISLAMABAD:

The discovery of the dead bodies of two missing children on Wednesday led to over four hundred people blocking both sides of the Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway near Swabi in protest.

The protest began around 2pm around 70 kilometres from Islamabad, after which traffic on the Motorway remained suspended. The police provided a detour for traffic from Rashakai Interchange to Grand Trunk Road.

Hundreds of vehicles from both sides lined up in the area as protesters — enraged by a slew of kidnappings for ransom and no police response — allegedly set one vehicle on fire and pelted others with stones before burning tyres.

A few days back, three teenagers from the village, Sajjad Riaz, Muhammad Mehran and Kashif Ali, went missing. The mutilated bodies of the children were found with their organs missing, said Farzana Bari, an Islamabad-based rights activist. She was returning from Peshawar when she got stuck in the traffic jam.

A police official said Riaz’s body was found from the house of Muhammad Ikram in Charsadda. Ikram was taken into custody and led the police to the bodies of the other two boys, which had been dumped in a canal. He also gave up eight accomplices. The children had been kidnapped for ransom.

Police officials said the bodies of the children, all aged between 14 and 15, were found in mutilated condition.

The protests were intensified after a commuter hit three protestors, injuring them.

The angry mob dragged the injured driver out of his car and thrashed him before setting his car on fire. He was rescued by police officials standing nearby. NH&MP police said the protesters dispersed and traffic on motorway was restored after 10 pm following assurances from the police that all such kidnappers would be brought to justice.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 27^th, 2012.