Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Ahmed Raza Tahir on Tuesday called upon Inspector General of Police (IGP) Punjab Javed Iqbal and briefed him about the progress in Shahbaz Taseer’s case.
IG office sources said Ahmed Raza Tahir briefed the IG Punjab about the course of investigations. According to sources, the CCPO accepted Lahore Police’s failure to trace the high profile case. Moreover, the CCPO admitted having no idea who the kidnappers were, or, whether Shahbaz Taseer was still in the city or country. He also admitted that the Lahore Police has failed to make any major breakthrough in the case, adding that they were not even aware if a ransom demand had been made to the family.
Separately, rumours began to circulate that a concrete ransom demand had been made. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) sources confirmed the rumours, saying a Rs 1.4 billion ransom had been sought, with Shahbaz Taseer having been shifted to Afghanistan. A PPP activist on condition of anonymity said the kidnappers had contacted Shahbaz Taseer’s family and Shahbaz had spoken to the family. He said the Taseer family had stopped police from interfering in the matter since it could pose a life threat to Shahbaz Taseer. Meanwhile, a local television channel aired a news item claiming that kidnappers demanded Rs 2 billion for releasing Shahbaz Taseer.
However, SSP Investigation Abdul Razzaq Cheema negated the rumours, saying the family had not received any ransom call. He said he had contacted the Taseer family to confirm if the television report of a ransom demand was true. He said people were only speculating. He admitted that he did not know if Shahbaz had been taken out of Lahore, but police were trying their best to trace him down.
