Know thy neighbour: 8-year-old boy kidnapped by neighbour found on Friday
The abducted boy, Irfanullah, was kidnapped on December 23 from near his house in Karachi's district West.
The abducted boy, Irfanullah, was kidnapped on December 23 from near his house in Karachi's district West. PHOTO: FILE.
KARACHI:
The eight-year-old boy, who was found on Friday, was kidnapped by his neighbour in Khwaja Ajmer Nagri.
The abducted boy, Irfanullah, was kidnapped on December 23, from near his house in Karachi's district West. "I was playing outside my house with my friends from the neighbourhood when I was abducted," the little boy recalled. "They [kidnappers] did not hurt me during captivity but they did warn me that they will kill me if I tried to escape or shouted."
Soon after Irfanullah went missing, his father, Munawar Khan, lodged a missing child report at the nearby police station. Some time later, the family started receiving calls from unidentified men demanding Rs10 million ransom. Khan, who is in the construction business, was warned of dire consequences if he involved the police.
"Initially, they asked for Rs10 million but, after negotiations, the deal was finalised at Rs1 million," said Khan. The Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) said they trained the family on how to negotiate with the kidnappers. "I could not imagine that my neighbour could be involved in my son's kidnapping. I don't think we will ever trust our neighbours or any other person outside the family our whole life."
While the family was negotiating with the kidnappers, a joint team of the CPLC, the Anti-Violent Crime Cell and Rangers started their own investigations. They identified the area where the calls were coming from and managed to arrest one kidnapper, Azizullah aka Qari Aziz, who was the family's neighbour. Based on his confession, the law enforcers arrested a woman, Haleema, wife of Shahzad, and Rais, son of Dilawar. The two accused revealed that the young boy was kept in Pathan Colony in SITE.
The joint team reached the kidnapper's hideout on Friday morning. "The raid was conducted on a tip-off," said CPLC deputy director Najeeb Dana Wala, while talking to The Express Tribune. "We also had technical assistance to trace the kidnappers' hideout."
Breaking records
The year 2013 had broken past records of kidnappings with 166 cases registered; however, the total number of kidnapping cases over the last 10 years is 898. "In these three days of the new year, there has been no incident of kidnapping," pointed out CPLC chief Ahmed Chinoy. "Only four kidnapping cases are pending and our efforts are underway to recover the victims safely."
AVCC officials said they have made a strategy to counter the growing incidents of kidnappings in the city. "This year will prove much better than the previous one," said AVCC official Mumtaz Magsi. "We have already enhanced our intelligence network."
Published in The Express Tribune, January 4th, 2014.
The eight-year-old boy, who was found on Friday, was kidnapped by his neighbour in Khwaja Ajmer Nagri.
The abducted boy, Irfanullah, was kidnapped on December 23, from near his house in Karachi's district West. "I was playing outside my house with my friends from the neighbourhood when I was abducted," the little boy recalled. "They [kidnappers] did not hurt me during captivity but they did warn me that they will kill me if I tried to escape or shouted."
Soon after Irfanullah went missing, his father, Munawar Khan, lodged a missing child report at the nearby police station. Some time later, the family started receiving calls from unidentified men demanding Rs10 million ransom. Khan, who is in the construction business, was warned of dire consequences if he involved the police.
"Initially, they asked for Rs10 million but, after negotiations, the deal was finalised at Rs1 million," said Khan. The Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) said they trained the family on how to negotiate with the kidnappers. "I could not imagine that my neighbour could be involved in my son's kidnapping. I don't think we will ever trust our neighbours or any other person outside the family our whole life."
While the family was negotiating with the kidnappers, a joint team of the CPLC, the Anti-Violent Crime Cell and Rangers started their own investigations. They identified the area where the calls were coming from and managed to arrest one kidnapper, Azizullah aka Qari Aziz, who was the family's neighbour. Based on his confession, the law enforcers arrested a woman, Haleema, wife of Shahzad, and Rais, son of Dilawar. The two accused revealed that the young boy was kept in Pathan Colony in SITE.
The joint team reached the kidnapper's hideout on Friday morning. "The raid was conducted on a tip-off," said CPLC deputy director Najeeb Dana Wala, while talking to The Express Tribune. "We also had technical assistance to trace the kidnappers' hideout."
Breaking records
The year 2013 had broken past records of kidnappings with 166 cases registered; however, the total number of kidnapping cases over the last 10 years is 898. "In these three days of the new year, there has been no incident of kidnapping," pointed out CPLC chief Ahmed Chinoy. "Only four kidnapping cases are pending and our efforts are underway to recover the victims safely."
AVCC officials said they have made a strategy to counter the growing incidents of kidnappings in the city. "This year will prove much better than the previous one," said AVCC official Mumtaz Magsi. "We have already enhanced our intelligence network."
Published in The Express Tribune, January 4th, 2014.