Justice served: Two convicted for kidnapping for ransom, extortion cases

The accused had kidnapped a teenager and taken Rs1 million for his release

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court sent on Saturday a man, convicted of kidnapping for ransom, to life imprisonment.

Judge Akhlaq Hussain Laarak of ATC-VII sentenced Ali Jan to 25 years in prison after finding him guilty of kidnapping a teenaged boy and taking Rs1million as ransom for his release.

According to the prosecution, the convict, along with his absconding accomplice, had kidnapped Zubair, son of Abdul Khaliq, on April 10, 2011 from Mauripur. They had demanded Rs1 million for the captive’s release. Zubair was released after his uncle, identified as Muhammad Aslam, paid the ransom money. The Mauripur police informed the court that the captive’s uncle had identified the suspect before a judicial magistrate. There was also evidence against him in the form of cellular phone data which he had used to make the ransom calls.

Extortionist convicted

Separately, the anti-terrorism court-I convicted on Saturday a man accused of taking extortion money, attempting to murder, possessing an illegal weapon and attacking the police. Judge Bashir Ahmed Khoso sentenced Saifur Rehman alias Asmatullah, son of Umer Din, to a total of 26 years in prison, after amalgamating all the cases against him.

The convict was sent to 10 years in prison and fined Rs20,000 under a section pertaining to attempted murder. Moreover, he was sentenced to seven years each in two cases of demanding extortion and the possession of an unlicensed weapon, with fines of Rs50,000 and Rs20,000 respectively. Additionally, he was sentenced to two more years and fined Rs20,000 for attacking police personnel.

According to the prosecution, Saifur Rehman and two other absconders, identified as Imran, son of Abdul Sattar and Faiz Muhammad alias Faizoo, had demanded Rs10,000 as extortion money from a scrap dealer in Scheme 33. They were caught red-handed on September 23, 2013 at the spot while taking extortion and a gunfight had ensued there. During the exchange of fire, the shopkeeper and Rehman were injured while his two accomplices managed to flee. Subsequently, Rehman was taken into custody.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st, 2014.