Moonlighting: Opportunists terrorising their rivals in the city
Criminals pretending to be militants demand extortion, threaten lives.
Terrorist attacks over the past few years have left people feeling vulnerable and thus more susceptible to such threats. STOCK IMAGE
PESHAWAR:
The wave of militancy in the city has provided people with a golden opportunity to settle personal scores and terrorise their rivals by sending them threatening letters or making frightening phone calls.
Terrorist attacks over the past few years have left people feeling vulnerable and thus more susceptible to such threats.
“Three months ago, a doctor working at a hospital for children received threatening calls demanding extortion,” said a police official. “When the caller was finally tracked down by the police, it turned out to be an employee of the same medical institute,” the officer added. He claimed the accused disliked the doctor and was taking the opportunity to make some money on the side.
Dozens of others are receiving threatening calls and letters from ordinary criminals, police say. The more crafty culprits are hitting their opponents where it hurts most—the pocket. Phone calls warn people that their houses will be bombed if they fail to cough up a certain amount of money.
In what seems like another attempt to settle a personal score, police say, the principal of an institute has been issued threatening letters, warning her to either fire a certain female teacher or face the “consequences”. An FIR has been registered by the principal of the school.
This schoolteacher is not the only one in the city. “It is a widespread phenomenon. Yes, militants are also involved, but small time criminals or opportunists are behind the majority of such threats,” said another police official. He added a well-known orthopedic specialist at the Khyber Teaching Hospital was told to leave the country as soon as possible or else he would be killed. The warning sent him and the rest of his family into a state of constant panic.
“This city will be haunted by the ghost of Taliban militancy for a long, long time. Ordinary criminals have started using the same tactics used by the militants in an organised manner,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 3rd, 2015.
The wave of militancy in the city has provided people with a golden opportunity to settle personal scores and terrorise their rivals by sending them threatening letters or making frightening phone calls.
Terrorist attacks over the past few years have left people feeling vulnerable and thus more susceptible to such threats.
“Three months ago, a doctor working at a hospital for children received threatening calls demanding extortion,” said a police official. “When the caller was finally tracked down by the police, it turned out to be an employee of the same medical institute,” the officer added. He claimed the accused disliked the doctor and was taking the opportunity to make some money on the side.
Dozens of others are receiving threatening calls and letters from ordinary criminals, police say. The more crafty culprits are hitting their opponents where it hurts most—the pocket. Phone calls warn people that their houses will be bombed if they fail to cough up a certain amount of money.
In what seems like another attempt to settle a personal score, police say, the principal of an institute has been issued threatening letters, warning her to either fire a certain female teacher or face the “consequences”. An FIR has been registered by the principal of the school.
This schoolteacher is not the only one in the city. “It is a widespread phenomenon. Yes, militants are also involved, but small time criminals or opportunists are behind the majority of such threats,” said another police official. He added a well-known orthopedic specialist at the Khyber Teaching Hospital was told to leave the country as soon as possible or else he would be killed. The warning sent him and the rest of his family into a state of constant panic.
“This city will be haunted by the ghost of Taliban militancy for a long, long time. Ordinary criminals have started using the same tactics used by the militants in an organised manner,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 3rd, 2015.