Taking cue from cellular phone
sims, Capital City Police raided a house in Hayatabad’s Phase IV
and recovered the kidnapped gastroenterologist Dr Sohail. Giving
details of successful police operation, SP Cantonment, Tauseef
Haider, told media that police had made some arrests but names
of those in custody were being kept secret to proceed further in
investigation. During an evening stroll in Phase II some three
weeks ago the physician was picked and whisked away by the
alleged kidnappers who were said to be wearing the uniforms of
Khasadar force. The unidentified outlaws later demanded ransom
worth Rs40 million for the doctor’s release. Meanwhile, some
reports alleged that kidnappers succeeded in dodging police and
fleeing the place and it was simply for face saving that police
pretended to keep the culprits’ names secret. Provincial
doctors’ association became furious over the outrageous crime
and mounted tremendous pressure on the NWFP government by
staging protest demonstrations and giving out a call for an
indefinite strike until the safe recovery of the victim or his
release without the payment of any ransom whatsoever.
Police detectives and
investigative newspaper reporters have long been asserting that
for the last three to four years the kidnappers operating in
City have been using various bungalows in Hayatabad to detain
their victims as the exit and entrance points to Peshawar have
been heavily manned and monitored even with secret cameras by
joint teams of army, police and rangers. As a rule, the
bungalows that are used for such heinous and abominable crimes
need to be demolished summarily as is done in the tribal areas.
If police hesitate in exposing the criminals, the civil society
should move higher judiciary against the mafia. General public
certainly feels gratified at police efficiency but at the same
time it wants that administration tightens the noose around the
necks of the outlaws.
