Speedy justice: Nowshera police secures conviction for kidnappers in record time

Statement released by CPO says Rs55,000 seized from abductors.

PESHAWAR: Nowshera police has set a new precedent by solving a kidnapping for ransom case, recovering the kidnapped person and securing a conviction for the accused in a record time of just three months, states a handout.

According to the handout issued by the Central Police Office on Friday, Haider Ali was kidnapped by unidentified persons on February 19 from GT Road, Amangarh, Nowshera. The kidnappers called Ali’s family from his mobile phone several times and demanded a huge amount of ransom.

During investigation, scientific methods were adopted in tracing the accused. A raid was carried out at the suspects’ hideout, Ali was recovered and his captors arrested, the document added.

“The police also recovered Ali’s mobile phone and Rs55,000 which the accused had snatched at the time of the kidnapping,” it read.

The handout further stated that owing to the hectic efforts of the investigation wing, Nowshera police was able to secure sentences of life imprisonment for the accused from an anti-terrorism court.

The document attributes the speedy convictions to the recent organisational reforms undertaken in the investigation wing of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police.

“The efforts of Nowshera police will go a long way in restoring the public’s confidence in the criminal justice system, and is a clear message to the criminals that their actions will no longer go unpunished,” the handout concludes.

On May 23, IGP Nasir Khan Duranni held a meeting at the CPO and urged police investigators to work on pending criminal cases along scientific lines. All SPs were assigned specific cases and a defined time period was set for them to complete their investigations and secure convictions.

The officials were further informed that their performances will be gauged on the percentage of convictions they secured and they would be held accountable if any accused is acquitted on account of negligence in investigations.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 31^st, 2014.