Kidnap victims set to be reunited with families

ISLAMABAD: Three Pakistani citizens, who were kidnapped in Iran and recovered from Taafa, a hilly area near the Iran-Turkey border, are expected to reunite with their respective families in a few days.

According to sources and the families of the released men, Iftikhar Ali, Anjum Farooqi and Adnan Sikandar were kidnapped from a south bus terminal of Tehran on March 2 and released on March 8 after having paid over Rs15 million in ransom to the kidnappers. The men reached the Pakistani embassy in Tehran the next morning.

All three men had travelled with valid documents to Iran by road from the Taftan border to visit the mausoleums of Imam Raza AS in Mashhad and Hazrat Masooma in Qom, and also to explore some business opportunities in Iran. They were able to visit the first mausoleum and intended to visit the second one but instead, fell prey to kidnappers.

The victims were tortured and their video clips were shared with their families via mobile phones, the kidnappers demanding ransom and giving a deadline. Their families helplessly tried to pay the amounts by selling their valuables and getting some financial help from other family members.

Adnan Sikandar’s family had to pay Rs10 million, Iftikhar Ali’s Rs0.5 million and Anjum Farooqi’s Rs0.2 million to get freed from captivity; they were kept in a torture cell, measuring 4 feet in width and 11 feet in length. The men were released, all their cash and documents taken away, after which they braved the terrain and managed to contact the Pakistan embassy, which promptly ensured their safe travel by road (an 800km journey).

The men have been looked after by the Pakistani embassy since they got back to Tehran, and their documents are being issued, so they can return to Pakistan.

During her weekly briefing last Thursday, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch had spoken about this case and appreciated the Iranian authorities for taking prompt action in the retrieval of the three Pakistanis: “We have been in close coordination with Iranian authorities to ensure the protection and safe passage of Pakistani Zaireen through Iran. As far as assertions [by the media that there may be other cases], we are not aware of such cases and when such cases are brought to our notice, we will definitely work with Iranian authorities and we are confident in their abilities to retrieve Pakistani nationals and to fight against these criminal gangs.”

Separately, a senior official in the Ministry of Interior said that a regional conference is being held in Islamabad on human smuggling/trafficking and, among other countries, Iran is also expected to send a high-powered delegation to the event.

“Both Pakistan and Iran and their concerned departments have close coordination on such issues and the upcoming moot here will help further strengthen and diversify the cooperation to deal with this alarming situation”, he explained.

According to the UN, Iran is one of the transit countries for Pakistani illegal migrants to travel to European countries. There is also a danger of travelers just visiting Iran for other purposes falling victim to kidnappers. There is a need for greater awareness among people visiting Iran on how to travel within the host country and what kind of standard operating procedures should be adopted.