Gone missing: Large number of kidnappings go unreported, say police

Families claim they pay up promptly as they fear for the lives of their loved ones.

KARACHI:

Parents have reason to fear when their children go to school amid rise in number of kidnappings in the city.

According to police records, the graph of kidnapping incidents is on the rise as over 150 cases of kidnappings are being registered at police stations every year, which means that an average of around a dozen people are kidnapped every month. The actual numbers are, however, much higher as more than half the families do not even report kidnappings of their loved ones.

“The number of unreported cases is much higher than those being reported,” said former Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) chief SSP Niaz Khosa. “The reason behind this is that they do not trust the police and they do not want to put the lives of their love ones at risk.”

As the number of such incidents rise, Khosa felt the trend in kidnappings has changed. Earlier, a lot more young to middle-aged and older people were kidnapped but, unfortunately, kidnappers are now targeting school-going and minor children. They believe younger victims are a more effective blackmailing tool for parents, he said.

In a recent case of kidnapping, two brothers - one of whom was 12 years old while the other was only seven - were kidnapped along with their driver when they were in their car along with their mother and three other siblings. They family was going to a nearby school when they were stopped near Guru Mandir.

“They asked me to walk out of the car along with my three children,” the mother recalled. “It seemed as if they were forgiving me and three of my children but taking away the other two sons.” The mother said she was unwilling to leave the car and kept begging to let them all go. “I only walked away because one of the kidnappers put a gun to my son’s head.”

The victims were taken to an undisclosed location where the suspects beat up the driver but did not hurt the children. “They kept us in a room and even gave us food,” one of the survivors recalled. “But they warned us that they would kill us if we cried or shouted.”

Meanwhile, the mother took a rickshaw to her house with her remaining children and informed her husband of the incident. Her husband, who used to work at the Karachi Stock Exchange and was associated with a currency business, had a feeling that his former business partners were involved.

“For the past few days, I was being warned about my children’s safety,” the father told The Express Tribune. “We often heard the news about kidnappings but I never knew what families go through. I have never cried in my life but in these two days I could not stop my tears.”

The family also approached the Jamshed Quarters police and the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC). “The family asked us to register the case so we registered,” said SHO Safdar Mashwani. “It is the responsibility of the investigation department to recover the victims.”

However, the CPLC officials insisted the family was not very cooperative. “They provided the kidnappers the ransom money and recovered their children,” said CPLC deputy director Najeed Dana Wala, adding that the family paid Rs40 million.

“I could not have taken a risk with my sons’ lives,” the grieving father admitted. “I arranged for the ransom money by selling my car and my wife’s jewellery, and then borrowed some money from others.” He mentioned that the kidnappers were affiliated with a political party. “The law enforcers can arrest them if they have the courage.”

Meanwhile, Criminal Investigation Agency’s ADIG Gul Hameed Sammu, who also holds the additional charge of the AVCC chief, insisted they are doing their level best. “We take time in kidnapping cases because of the sensitivity of such cases and to secure the lives of the victims.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30^th, 2013.