Effective policing: Bid to kidnap army officer foiled

Employees of a workshop told us that the car used was a Honda Civic with a fake registration number, says Aftab.

RAWALPINDI: The Motorway police foiled an attempt to kidnap a retired army officer on Tuesday night.

Talking to The Express Tribune, the officer, a retired brigadier who asked not to be named, said he was on his way to Lahore when five men in a car opened fire at his car a short distance from the Pindigheb rest area. He said they shot out the tyres of his car and bundled him in their car.

“They spoke Pashto. When they learnt that I am a retired army officer, they identified themselves as members of the Taliban,” he said, adding that they claimed to have strong contacts in Pakistan’s intelligence agencies. Motorway police officer Aftab said that they barricaded the Motorway on both sides and also informed the local police about the incident.

“Employees of a workshop told us that the car used was a Honda Civic with a fake registration number. We quickly barricaded the Motorway. When we signaled the car to stop, they opened fire on us,” he said, adding that they returned fire and shot out the car’s tyres. He said the kidnappers raced away on foot as soon as the police stopped firing.

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