City becomes safe haven for kidnappers for ransom

According to sources, Taliban and other militant groups have roots in tribal areas. They kidnap people from Karachi and later their associates receive ransom in Wana and other parts of NWFP.

The first such case occurred a couple of months ago when an oil supplier to the Nato forces, Shaukat Afridi, was kidnapped and killed by kidnappers in the limits of Baldia Town police station during an encounter, in which three suicide bombers were also killed and a mastermind Rahimullah alias Ali Hassan was arrested, who is involved in various bomb blasts incidents, including Nishter Park and suicide attack on Allama Hassan Turabi.

Afridi was kidnapped from Clifton, Karachi and he was reportedly taken to Waziristan. The kidnappers had demanded Rs 50 million ransom for his release. Negotiations for the payment of ransom were underway but Afridi was killed in an encounter between policy and the culprits last month.

Later, Crime Investigation Department (CID) arrested three alleged members of Taliban after an encounter in Wazir Mansion Road, Marripur, and recovered two snatched vehicles and weapons from their possession while their five accomplices managed to flee. The culprits were identified as Tariq alias Junaid, Wasim alias Ghatta and Mudasir.

During the course of investigation, the culprits revealed that they have done various criminal activities including Bank robberies and kidnapping for ransom just to support Taliban financially. The culprits also confessed that their last kidnapping case was of a Christian boy from the Cantonment area the parents of the boy paid Rs. 2.8 million in ransom to the Talibans. The modus operandi of the culprits was to kidnap the person from Karachi and receive ransom amount in Dara Adam Khel of NWFP.