FIR registered, two teams formed as police fail to recover abducted businessman

KARACHI: Police have failed to make any breakthrough in their efforts for the recovery of prominent businessman Zulfiqar Ahmed despite the passage of three days since his abduction.

Ahmed was kidnapped on Tuesday while he was travelling in a vehicle with his friend, Qaiser, on Mauripur Road.

Answering a query from a journalist on Friday, Karachi police chief Javed Alam Odho said a kidnapping case had been registered, and two high-powered teams, led by the CIA deputy inspector general and the Zonal DIG, had been constituted. He held out the assurance that the case would be solved soon.

The Kalri police registered the FIR against eight masked men, who had been carrying weapons when they had taken away the businessman. The police had earlier refused to register a case, and the SHO of the police station had been summoned by the Sindh High Court for an explanation.

On Tuesday, Ahmed’s vehicle was intercepted by a black vehicle with tinted windows. Witnesses reported that several masked individuals armed with guns emerged from the vehicle and abducted him with his friend. They later dropped Qaiser.

On Thursday, the Sindh High Court has issued notices to federal and provincial law officers, Sindh’s inspector general of police and others on a petition for the recovery of the businessman.

Petitioner Anber Zulfiqar submitted that her spouse Zulfiqar Ahmed was a prominent businessman and managing director of textile manufacturing and oil companies. She said Ahmed had left his office on July 23 along with his friend Qaiser, and on the way to Agra Taj Colony they were intercepted and taken to an undisclosed location by unidentified armed persons in a double cabin vehicle. She said Qaiser was later released and left on the road, while the kidnappers continued to hold Ahmed captive.

The petitioner submitted that family members approached the police and other law enforcement agencies to ascertain her spouse’s whereabouts, but none of them were aware about his arrest or detention.

The petitioner’s counsel said the family approached the Kalri police station to register an FIR about the incident, but the case was not registered. He said there was much apprehension about Ahmed’s life as he had not been shown arrested nor had he been produced before any court of law. The court was requested to direct the police and other law enforcement agencies to produce the detainee before the court and disclose details of cases if pending against him.

He also sought an injunction against the initiation of any criminal proceedings after the abduction of the businessman and for registration of a case against persons who were involved in his unlawful detention.

A high court division bench, headed by Justice Mrs. Kausar Sultana Hussain, after the preliminary hearing of the petition, issued notices to the federal and provincial law officers, Sindh’s IGP and the District SSP, and called their comments on July 30. The court also directed the SHO of the Kalri police station to appear before the court on the next date of the hearing.