Short-term kidnapping: Suspects sent on physical remand

KARACHI: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Karachi on Saturday approved physical remand of four suspects including a Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) official in a case pertaining to short-term kidnapping of a citizen, ARY News reported.

According to details, the investigation officer produced CTD official named Umar along with other suspects Asher, Muzammil and Rehman and sought their physical remand. While approving the request, the court directed the investigation officer to submit progress report in the next hearing.

The court was informed that the suspects were arrested by the Anti Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) of Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) as they were ‘involved’ in the short-term kidnapping of a man in Karachi and transferring a staggering Rs 130 million from the victim’s cryptocurrency account.

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.

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

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

The CIA also claimed to have recovered Rs 40 million 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.

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.