Child kidnapping: Anonymous warning pamphlets spike up the hype

Parks and playgrounds in Karachi were found empty on Saturday, an off-day, after a mysterious group of people circulated papers in houses in almost all parts of the port city, warning parents not to allow their children to go outside, Pakistan Today has learnt through reliable sources.

As per details, the rumours of widespread kidnapping of children in the city landed in printed form after campaign on social media. A group of mysterious people circulated hand written photocopies in houses and warned the guardians of the children not to send their children outside alone.

Considering this apprehension, the parents stopped their siblings not to leave the home for entertainment and sports. Local police officials were found helpless in locating people behind this baseless campaign.

One of such warning letter was obtained from Model Colony, an area of District Malir. As per the warning letter, a child was injured by a kidnapper and police had arrested two alleged abductors when they were trying to take away a minor boy. The issuer warned the parents to stop their children from frequent visits or adopt precautionary measures when they leave home for play.

The parents were also requested to advise their siblings not to take anything from stranger and if anyone forcibly tries to give them some edible item they should raise a hue and cry. “Take care of yourself, take care of your child and take care of your family,” the issuer ends the note with blessings and alert.

An elderly man, belonging to Model Colony, Nishtarabad, told this scribe that when he got up in the morning, he found this paper on main gate of his house. “Two days before, area residents caught two people red-handed who were trying to kidnap a child, and handed them over to police,” the man claimed.

A duty officer of Model Colony police station confirmed the elderly man’s claim and said that police were called in by the area residents and two accused were handed over to them for allegedly abducting a child.

“When we investigated, the alleged kidnappers, who were beaten-up brutally, disclosed their identities as Mazhar, son of Muhammad Akhtar, and Rana Muhammad Yameen, son of Abdul Shakoor, the DO said. “Both of them claimed that they were residents of Malir Cantt and used to come in the area for consuming drugs fearing arrests at the hands of Army in the cantonment area.”

The duty officer said that police verified their claims and both were found innocent. “Both accused were shifted to Edhi Centre for rehabilitation,” he maintained.

Amid hype of massive kidnapping of children in the city, the local police were found hapless in arresting the people involved in this campaign. West Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Zulfiqar Larik when approached for comments, claimed that Additional Inspector General (AIG) Karachi Mushtaq Meher had given a policy statement on this issue and briefed press that there was no reality behind this rumour.

“The AIG also directed us to arrest the people involved in circulating such rumours and we will put such elements behind the bar,” the DIG alleged. When the DIG was asked about circulation of hand written papers, he said that police had so far failed to trace the circulators of these papers.