City becomes safe haven for kidnappers for ransom

KARACHI - Radical elements belonging to tribal areas have begun to consider the metropolis as an ideal place to carry out their illegal and nefarious activities.

Sources in a law enforcement agency told The Nation, on condition of anonymity, that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and other related groups were using various illegal tactics for extorting money from affluent persons in the city.

They added that besides robberies and kidnappings, the radical elements have also been collecting extortion money through phone calls while threatening citizens of dire consequences. “Even the leader of Tehreek-e-Taliban, Baitullah Mehsood, himself used to call rich people to receive money through his diehard activists.

A man belonging to Mehsud Tribe told, on condition of anonymity, that he had been in Karachi for the last twenty years while his brothers and other family members were still in Waziristan. He is running the construction business in Karachi.

“Baitullah called me and told that he was sending a man at my home and ordered to give him one million rupees. He said that this contribution would give me God’s blessings and my business would prosper”, he disclosed. That has been done various times and by various other people especially those who hailed form Waziristan, he added.

Collecting ransom in a safe manner is the kidnappers’ first priority and for this purpose they have devised new tactics as kidnapping for ransom cases have increased in the last couple of months in Karachi.

The data of kidnapping for ransom compiled by the Sindh police revealed that such cases have increased enormously across the province. Sindh police crime review from January 1, 2008 to August 31, 2008, pointed out that number of abductions has increased by 64 as compared to the last year.