LAHORE: A former principal of Pak-Turk School, Mesut Kacmaz, has reportedly been kidnapped, along with his family, in wee hours of Wednesday from Lahore’s Wapda Town.
As per the details, at least 15 plain-clothed men entered Kacmaz’s house around 02:00 am and took away Rumi Forum director, his wife and two daughters.
A colleague of the director, who lived in the same building, was also taken away by the unknown men when he resisted the kidnapping of the Turkish family but was later released.
Turkish-language teacher, Fatih Avci, later approached the police to report the matter but they refused to register the FIR.
The matter came to light when a former colleague and neighbour of the family shared a statement on social media claiming that he too was taken away by the “officials” when he tried to intervene. However, he was later released.
“I am Fatih Avci, a Turkish language teacher by profession and currently an asylum seeker placed under the protection of the UNHCR since November 2016. I live upstairs from Mr Mesut Kacmaz and his family. Mr Mesut Kacmaz is a colleague and we both hold UNHCR asylum seeker certificates along with our families,” a man named Engin Baştürk on Facebook wrote.
He added that he was blindfolded and driven back to the gate of the housing society.
“It was so shocking that for a family of four, fifteen officers were deputed. What was more shocking was the treatment given to the family: blindfolding them all (including wife and children) and slipping hoods on their heads. We are ordinary educationists and being subjected to such a revolting treatment as if we were criminals is so appalling. I have no idea who those people are and which organisation they belong to,” he wrote.
The ‘officials’ reportedly pushed and shoved the family members and when Avci protested, he too was detained. The detained individuals were put into pickups and driven to a guesthouse where “senior officials” were waiting.
“One of the officers said to me, ‘You were not meant to be involved in this, yet you got yourself involved. We have nothing to do with you. Your name is not on our list. We will set you free.’ They even removed the wall clock so that we should not keep track of the time,” Avci claimed.
Mesut Kacmaz is currently on ‘UNHCR asylum seeker certificates’ since November 2016 when Pakistan revoked visas of staffers working with the Pak-Turk Schools on the request of Turkish government.
Meanwhile, authorities filed a request at the Satu Katla police station for the opening of a case regarding the ‘mysterious disappearance’ of Kacmaz and his family, police said.
According to police report, the action might have been taken by the counter terrorism department. The UNHCR is also closely monintoring the case as well.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has called for the immediate release of the abducted teacher, his wife and two young daughters.
“HRCP urges the government to immediately release the Kacmaz family and desist from deporting them as there are credible reports of other Turkish educationists being arrested upon their arrival in Turkey and their subsequent torture,” it wrote in a statement issued on Wednesday.
