Kidnapping for ransom: News of 4-year-old comes with a price

Abductors of Rahim Yar Khan boy demand Rs5m for his release.

BAHAWALPUR:

Four-year-old Osama* was playing with the neighbourhood children on a street in the Abu Dhabi Colony of Rahim Yar Khan. He had no idea that he was about to be kidnapped.

On February 24, Osama’s father fled to the police station after searching for him almost everywhere. “The police registered a case after my complaint. It has been 12 days,” said Mohammad*, the aggrieved father.

However, on March 6, news about Osama finally came – but with a price. The little boy’s kidnappers were demanding a ransom of Rs5 million. It was time for Mohammad to visit the police station again.

A case was registered against kidnappers Farooq* and Mirza* belonging to Kabirwala – a town in Khanewal district – at the Aab-e-Hayat police station.

In another kidnapping for ransom case, three men abducted Haseeb*, a resident of Bait Bhutto in Rahim Yar Khan, at gunpoint while he was on his motorcycle with a companion. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of Rs2 million.

After being informed of the incident, police established pickets throughout the city.

Near the Chak Duniapur area, the kidnappers, feeling threatened by the police, launched an armed attack – prompting retaliatory action from the police. One of the kidnappers was injured while two other kidnappers abandoned Haseeb and fled.

District Police Officer Sohail Zafar Chattha told The Express Tribune that the criminal was transferred to the hospital where he died after succumbing to his injuries.

*Names have been changed in view of the case’s sensitivity

Published in The Express Tribune, March 9^th, 2013.