Police claim busting kidnapping rings

Members of gang involved in kidnapping found in Mastung Prison.

QUETTA: Quetta police on Sunday claimed to have busted gangs involved in kidnapping for ransom and the accused involved in kidnapping of Dr Amin Mengal, father of DCO Lahore Noorul Amin Mengal.

Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Quetta, Mir Zubair Mehmood told a press conference that 12 suspects allegedly involved in kidnapping for ransom and other crimes were arrested on Sunday.

He said the police acting on reports gathered by its informants raided various places and rounded up the suspects.

“Though the pace of police’s performance in busting the kidnapping rings is slow, we have been able to track down the culprits and will take strict action against them,” said the city police chief flanked by other senior officials.

Gang found resting in Jail

One of the gangs was in prison on another charge, the police chief said. The police had received information that Amir Humza Mengal, a convict imprisoned in District Jail Mastung, was also involved in kidnapping Dr Amin Mengal.



“After getting permission from the court, we interrogated the accused who provided us information about other members of the gang,” he said. The other gang members included Azeem Jan, Muhammad Bilal, Inayatullah, Ali Nawaz and Khair Muhammad, he said, adding that these men were also in Mastung Jail.

CCPO Zubair Mahmood said that a case has been registered against the accused for kidnapping Dr Mengal while another accused Malik Mudasir Shahwani was rounded up from Sariab Road Quetta.

“Accused Amir Humza has also confessed to taking ransom of Rs3.3 million for releasing Dr Amin Mengal,” he said, adding that the accused had also admitted to kidnapping Ghayas Badini from Sheikh Zahid Hospital Quetta who was set free after paying Rs1.5 million. Zubair said that the accused had also owned up to kidnapping several other people, including owner of Ghazai Steel Mill.

Chaman blast

A blast occurred near Nadra office in Chaman, a border town near Afghanistan, on Sunday.

Police said that unidentified people had left a bicycle fitted with explosives close to the wall of the Nadra office. However, no loss of life was reported.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 28^th, 2013.