CTD officials deprive citizen of Rs 130mn in short-term kidnapping

KARACHI: The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) officials were found ‘involved in the short-term kidnapping of a man in Karachi as they transferred a staggering Rs 130 million from the victim’s cryptocurrency account, ARY News reported citing sources.

The citizen was abducted on December 24 from Manghopir area of Karachi, and the kidnappers including CTD officials and a cop posted in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) police managed to transfer 340,000 US Dollars from the victim’s cryptocurrency account, the sources said.

The Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) arrested apprehended four individuals, including a CTD official. The arrested suspects included Asher, Muzammil, Rehman, Tariq, and police official Omar.

The CIA also claimed to have recovered US$40,000 from the arrested suspects.

A CTD official named Ali Raza and a CPEC police personnel Ali managed to escape the arrest, the sources added. The CIA also discovered that one of the kidnappers, Raja Farooq, a CPEC police official, was involved in the kidnapping and provided support to the perpetrators.

Read More: ANF officers accused of short-term kidnapping in Karachi

According to the preliminary investigations, kidnappers used a police mobile belonging to a CTD official to abduct the victim. Another police mobile, belonging to a CPEC police official, was used to distort CCTV footage.

Earlier, a Karachi policeman was arrested for his alleged involvement in robberies, short-term kidnapping and extortion. The accused cop along with his fellow policeman allegedly robbed a rickshaw driver during his duty hours.

The spokesperson of the District Police Karachi said that both cops were deputed at the Tipu Sultan police station. They used to rob citizens in the vicinity of the Saddar police station, he added.

He said that the accused policemen stopped a citizen near Saddar and kidnapped him for a short period. The citizen was released after he paid Rs30,000 to the cops.