Daily Times

SHIKARPUR: Police and law enforcement agencies have been sharing information and coordinating efforts to curb incidents of kidnappings for ransom as scammers have been impersonating amiable female voices to lure victims through WhatsApp, Facebook, text messages and other methods in Shikarpur, Ghotki and Kashmore districts of Sindh.

Since July 2016, at least 300 such incidents have been reported in Ghotki district alone, according to the then Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Masood Bangash via media briefing.

Scores of men mainly from Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan have fallen into traps of kidnappers who have been demanding up to Rs 5 million for their release.

Usually, within in a few weeks of chatting online and befriending victims, kidnappers ask them to join them for outings. However, they are kidnapped upon arrival at the planned spot.

Recently, the Shikarpur police have rescued three persons including 19-year-old Taufeeq Ahmed Jakhrani and 16-year-old Mir Muhammad Jakhrani, both were residents of Shikarpur.

Likewise, 45-year-old Ali Baksh Khakhrani, a resident of Kingri tehsil of Khairpur, was being abducted but saved when police flagged down the kidnappers’ car on suspicious movement. However, kidnappers managed to flee from the spot.

Moreover, the Ghotki police apprehended Sajjad alias Shazia, Ali Gul and Nawab, for their alleged involvement in kidnapping of at least two dozen people including 18 people from Punjab and six people from Sindh.

Meanwhile, the Kot Sabzal police of Punjab has confirmed kidnappings of 19 people from Punjab.

Besides, the Ghotki police also arrested a suspect identified as Rajab Shar, who was believed to be a ringleader, for mimicking different female voices, kidnapping at least 60 people from Sindh and Punjab provinces, and subsequently demanding ransom from their families.

Furthermore, police arrested another ringleader, who confessed to have kidnapped 18 people, during a raid on his suspected hideout in Mirkosh village near Ubauro town of Ghotki district.

Police detained another ringleader Nawabi Kosh and his three accomplices.

Meanwhile, the Shikarpur police have busted a gang and arrested Imran Jatoi, Mumtaz and their abettor a woman identified as Najma Buriro aka Maria, a resident of Tharopur Mohalla, who used to set a trap for victims after befriending them and inviting them for dates.

Police also recovered 8 SIM cards, and mobile phones from their possession a few years ago.

Subsequently, three women including Sughra, Zuhra and Nadia, and a minor child were rescued by police while being shifted to their hideout by two suspects identified as Ghulam Nabi Jafferi and Abdul Rehman.

The abductees told the media that they were residents of Khairpur, and had befriended a woman, who used to call them using cell phone and set a trap to kidnap them at gunpoint in Khairpur.

It was also reported that a senior bureaucrat of Balochistan government was also abducted by kidnappers a few years ago in the same area, and was released after paying a hefty amount as ransom.

The kidnappers had used to shift kidnapped men to their hideouts at Katcha area of Kashmore, Ghotki, Sukkur and Shikarpur districts.

Published in Daily Times, September 24^th 2018.