Kidnapped students were kept in Mardan’s Sheikh Maltoon Town

MARDAN: Two students who were kidnapped a few weeks ago and later released after allegedly paying Rs10.5 million as ransom were held captive at a bungalow here in the upscale Sheikh Maltoon town, police sources said.

The sources said on the November 18, one Hamza, son of Mir Ali and a student of 8th grade, and Taimur, nephew of Mir Ali and a 9th grader of City School Mardan, were going to school in their vehicle when they were kidnapped by unidentified men. Both belonged to Dheri village in Katlang tehsil.

The sources added that later the family members of kidnapped students received a call from the kidnappers who demanded Rs60 million for the safe release of the kids. The kidnappers also told the family members that their vehicle had been left at the parking lot outside the Peshawar High Court.

They added that the parents and relatives of the kidnapped students didn’tlodge a case at the local police station. The family members of the kidnapped children allegedly paid Rs10.5 million to the kidnappers to secure release of the children.

The police launched investigation into the case. The probe revealed that the kidnapped students were allegedly kept at a bungalow in Sheikh Maltoon town in Mardan.The police also arrested several people in this connection. They included the owner of the bungalow, the person who had rented the place and was living in it and the property dealer.

However, the sources didn’t disclose the names of the arrested people and exact location of the bungalow.It may be noted that Sheikh Maltoon has become a haven for criminals. On November 25, the local police had recovered the bullet-riddled body of Mohammad Tariq, director finance of the Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan from Sheikh Maltoon. According to the police he had been killed by his driver.

The sources said that Mohammad Tariq too was held captive in a bungalow at Sheikh Maltoon. The accused killed him and dumped his body at a deserted place in Sector-H in Sheikh Maltoon.