AVCC arrests five kidnappers, rescues two victims

The Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) of the Karachi police on Sunday claimed to have arrested five suspects, including four in an injured condition, and rescued their two victims. Separately, the Sohrab Goth division police arrested a suspect for his alleged involvement in injuring a police head constable.

In a joint operation with the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee, AVCC officials carried out a raid in SITE Area based on a piece of information they received. After an exchange of gunfire between the police and the suspects, five alleged kidnappers were arrested, four of whom were injured.

According to the AVCC, the suspects had promised Mian Shahid and his son Abdullah that they would be sent to Italy, luring them from Sargodha in Punjab to Karachi for recording their fingerprints and checking their documents, then kidnapping them from the vicinity of Bahadurabad.

The suspects had contacted them online and finalised a deal of Rs3.5 million for sending them abroad, then they demanded Rs20 million for releasing them. Besides rescuing both victims, the police also recovered weapons from the suspects.

Another arrest

The SITE Super Highway Industrial Area police claimed to have arrested a suspect after an exchange of gunfire near the Aka Khel graveyard. DSP Chaudhry Sohail Faiz said the suspect, identified as Ghulam Mustafa, son of Abdur Rasheed, is a habitual street criminal who was involved in injuring Head Constable Muhammad Ali.

Arms smuggling

The Intelligence Wing of the Sindh Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) claimed to have foiled an arms smuggling bid in Karachi on Sunday. Acting on a tip-off, they carried out a raid near the KMC Sports Complex and arrested a police constable belonging to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

CTD Intelligence Wing incharge Raja Umer Khattab said that an attempt to smuggle weapons concealed in a school bag was thwarted, adding that PC Azharuddin of KP was arrested during the raid.

The officer said that small weapons were found in the suspect’s school bag, adding that the suspect is associated with an inter-provincial arms smuggling gang. Khattab said the group supplies weapons online in Pakistan, adding that the suspect works for KP bus terminal supervisor Daniyal, a key employee of arms dealers Qadeer, Saddam and Nadeem.

The officer said that a KP police card was found on the arrested suspect, adding that the suspect had previously also been involved in supplying weapons in Karachi. Khattab said that three arms dealers in KP have sent heavy weapons to Karachi, adding that two members of the gang have been arrested before. He said that most of the officials involved in arms smuggling are retired or dismissed FC personnel.

He explained that people place online orders, while delivery is arranged by Daniyal, who takes care of the expenses for bringing in and delivering the weapons, and pays commission per weapon. Khattab said the suspect used to come to Karachi to hand over the weapons to the gang’s customers before returning, adding that he has been transferred to the CTD for further investigation.