War of words: Too many cooks when it comes to CPLC

Controversy over kidnapping began from fight over who will announce the recovery

KARACHI: When it comes to the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC), it is a problem of too many cooks spoiling the broth, or more accurately, criminal investigations.

The recent kidnapping of a young boy, Laraib, exposed the tensions within the institution and with other law enforcement agencies. The CPLC and the Rangers Special Task Force, both of which are dealing with kidnapping cases in the city, probed Laraib's kidnapping and allegedly got into a fight when it came to taking credit for his safe recovery.

The CPLC was set up in 1989 with the aim of solving the problems faced by the residents of Karachi where vehicle theft, kidnappings and extortion were the order of the day. The Rangers taskforce was formed only last year, but with the same goals. A lack of coordination between the two has, however, compromised both their successes.

"Since Laraib's parents approached both the institutions when their son was kidnapped, it led to some conflicts," claimed an official privy to the matter. Earlier, the two bodies were working separately and had managed to avoid stepping on each others' toes, he added. When the investigations into Laraib's kidnapping began, both sides started working without taking each other into confidence, he pointed out.

The gang that kidnapped Laraib had carried out a similar kidnapping last week from the same area (New Karachi), according to an official, adding that those victims were released shortly after their families paid ransom. The Rangers taskforce allegedly asked the family to take the ransom to the criminals, hoping that they will catch the culprits when they come to collect the money, he said.

However, the CPLC told the family not to take the money as they wanted to probe the case on their own, the official claimed, adding that the taskforce had already traced the kidnappers with the help of the other two victims, and planned a raid at their hideout in Sohrab Goth early on Tuesday. When the suspects saw a large number of Rangers men, they escaped and left Laraib behind. The official added that they called CPLC chief Ahmed Chinoy a few hours later but he refused to pick up. "That is why the Rangers went to his house to reprimand him for his poor coordination," the official explained.

A Rangers spokesperson also claimed that their team visited Chinoy's office for better coordination between the two bodies and to share the findings from the kidnapping case. Chinoy announced the Rangers' 'raid' on his house to the media but denied the raid at a press conference held later the same day.

"The Rangers did not conduct a raid at my house but they came at 5:30am to discuss the findings of Laraib's case," Chinoy claimed in the press conference.

The kidnapping victim, Laraib, confirmed to The Express Tribune he was recovered during a Rangers' raid in Sohrab Goth. The 24-year-old student, who worked at his father's factory in New Karachi was going from the factory to his house in Malir when some men kidnapped him.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th, 2015.