Culprits uncovered: Police arrest extortionists in Swat

Say the accused were threatening people by posing as the Taliban.

MINGORA:

In the wake of the recent wave of threatening letters and calls from unidentified men to traders and affluent people, Swat police raided several areas and arrested alleged extortionists.

According to Mingora police, they conducted several raids in various areas of Swat following intelligence reports, arresting members of some groups who had been sending threatening messages to businessmen and traders.



DSP Sadiq Akbar Khan said a merchant, Iftikhar, reported receiving a threatening letter and call for extortion. The number from which the call was made was then traced by the police on the directives of Swat DPO Sher Akbar Khan. Police consequently traced and arrested the person behind the call and letter. He has been identified as Salahuddin, who allegedly has a history of sending threatening letters to affluent people.

“The accused confessed to his crime and revealed he took Rs200,000 from another merchant and made threatening calls to several other traders to get money from them,” the DSP told the media. The police also seized Rs150,000, a motorcycle and a mobile SIM from the accused. Further investigation is under way.

Similarly, Charbagh police also claimed to have arrested four extortionists from the tehsil. The group of four was reportedly involved in making calls and sending letters to affluent people for money, threatening them of dire consequences if they failed to cough up the amount.

A resident of Charbagh, Shafiqur Rehman, registered a complaint of receiving calls and a letter for extortion after which the four extortionists were arrested. They were traced via the mobile number they used to place threatening calls.

The group of accused comprises Dawlat Khan, a resident of Khawaja Abad; Malak Qowat Khan, a resident of Waktey in Mingora; Bakhtiar Khan, a resident of Makan Bagh; and Noorul Wahab, a resident of Durushkhela in Matta. According to the police, the four men are accused of taking money from several people in Swat and the police hope to get important information from them.

The news of the arrests of extortionists in Swat was lauded by many as the threatening calls and letters made under the name of the Taliban and other militant groups had instilled fear among people. “Many people have sent money to extortionists without informing anyone as they feared getting into further trouble,” a local journalist, Niaz Ahmad, told The Express Tribune. “They gave in to the threats because they believed the calls and letters to be from the Taliban or some extremist group.”

Law-enforcement agencies and social activists in Swat have stressed people should immediately inform the police if they receive letters or calls so that the culprits can be traced in time.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2014.