Law enforcers on Saturday claimed to have recovered three abducted bank officials after a joint search operation was conducted by the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC), the Anti-Violence Crime Cell (AVCC), the Pakistan Rangers-Sindh, the Sindh Police and law enforcement agencies (LEAs) of Sukkur, where the captives were being held.
AVCC chief Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Farooq Awan said that State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Public Relations Director Najmul Saqib, SBP Marketing Deputy Director Nadeem Bhurgri and a private bank’s Senior Vice President Asif Shahzad had been kidnapped on May 30 on their way home from the Arabian Sea Country Club in Karachi.
Awan said that the white Toyota Camry in which the bank officials were travelling was found the following day in the bushes near the Pakistan Steel Mills in Bin Qasim Town. “The abductees were recovered from the katcha area of Sukkur, and the police also managed to arrest the three kidnappers during the search operation,” Awan added.
He said that the Bin Qasim police had registered First Information Report (FIR) No 112/11 under Section 365/34 on behalf of Saqib’s brother Asif. Following the registration of the FIR, the case was transferred to the AVCC, he added. The SSP said that a few days after the kidnapping, the accused had made a telephone call to the families of the abductees and demanded a ransom of Rs 90 million for releasing them. “We raided Sindhi Goth in Steel Town after tracing their call with the help of the CPLC. After conducting an operation there, we found plenty of evidence that pointed us in the direction of the abductors”, the SSP added.
He said that after tracing the kidnappers, the AVCC – with the help of Rangers-Sindh, Sindh Police and Sukkur LEAs – cordoned off the katcha area in Sukkur, and after a brief encounter with the kidnappers, the police managed to recover the abductees.
The law enforcers also arrested Mehboob Chandio, Zameer Chandio and Rasheed Chandio who had a head money on them and were wanted in several cases of kidnappings for ransom among other crimes, he added.
Though the police claim that the abductees were recovered because of their concentrated efforts, sources said that some high-profile government officials were involved in the recovery of the bank officials.
A police officer said, “Two of the abductees’ association with the SBP compelled the government to take this case seriously.” Security agencies, especially the Rangers, had to be called in because the government wanted to ensure recovery of the abductees without them getting hurt, the police officers added.
