Man who met Dua Mangi in US could be behind her abduction: police

Police claimed making progress on Monday in the investigation into the abduction of a 22-year-old woman, Dua Mangi, who was snatched by car riders from a street in Defence Housing Authority on Saturday evening, saying a man whom she met in the US could be involved in her kidnapping.

The police investigators recorded the statements of some 22 witnesses, family members and friends. They said Dua’s sister had also been present at the scene along with her friend when the incident took place. They said they had found an empty shell of a 9mm pistol used in the shooting that left Dua’s friend, Haris Fateh Soomro, critically wounded. The shell has been sent to the forensic division of the Sindh police for ballistics cross-matching.

The statements of owners, waiters and security guards of the teashops in the surroundings of the crime scene were said to have been recorded as well. DIG South Sharjeel Kharal told media persons on Monday a special police team had been formed, which had made progress in light of the evidence gathered so far. He hoped that the woman would be recovered soon.

The woman’s elder sister told the police that her sister and Haris had also been at the restaurant and the incident had occurred shortly after they had started walking.

Investigators said Dua and Haris had been visiting the Master Chai teashop for the last few months and the two had been coming to the teashop continuously for the past four to five days.

Police have also questioned three boys and detained them for further questioning for getting help with the probe. The investigators are looking into the alleged threats being received by Dua from the man she met in the United States of America while studying there and that the person had allegedly been building pressure on her to marry him.

They said Dua, a student of a law university in Karachi, used to introduce herself to people as a person from the elite class and would claim that her residence was in DHA though she lived in the Korangi Crossing area.

A senior police investigator says the investigators are investigating the incident from different angles; however, they are also not ruling out the possibility of kidnapping for ransom as Dua had been pretending to belong to the elite class.

He says her friends have been in shock since they heard that the woman actually lived in the Korangi Crossing area and had no link with any affluent family.

The officer says that while studying in the US, Dua made friends with a Pakistani man, who often made attempts to force her to marry him. Upon her refusal, the man started threatening her and threatened to make her pictures viral on social media, according to the senior police officer.

He says Dua’s cell phone had fallen on the road while she was trying to help Haris after he was shot and injured by the kidnappers.

The police are making use of the cell phone data in a bid to solve the case. With the help of CCTV footage, they have also impounded a car apparently used in the incident and are verifying whether it was the same car used in the incident.

According to Dua’s micro-blogging account, the woman is getting a law education from the University of London and also associated with an international association of woman rights.

Investigators said five kidnappers were in the car – two were sitting on the front seats while three were on the backseats, and one of them had covered his face with a mask to hide his identity.

Police suspected that Dua knew the man who had covered his face. Police also suspected that paid criminals might have been used for carrying out the kidnapping.

Investigators said it had also been learnt that an ex-fiancée of the woman was in the US and they were trying to verify his location.

They added that the suspects were between 35 years and 45 years. They suspected that the car apparently used in the incident might have been snatched from the Ferozabad area on November 27.