Abbottabad police authorities on Wednesday arrested two key members of an inter-provincial criminal gang while safely recovering a man from Multan. The action was taken following a kidnapping incident in which a ransom of Rs 15 crore was demanded. The organized gang allegedly targeted the victim in a honey trap using a female accomplice.
The operation began after the son of the abductee, Abdul Aziz Malana, contacted Mirpur police via WhatsApp from France. He reported that contact had been lost with his father, who had traveled to Abbottabad for an alleged marriage proposal, and his mobile phone was switched off.
Subsequently, the family received a call from an unknown number, accompanied by a video showing Mr. Malana in chains. The kidnappers demanded a hefty sum for his release and issued serious threats of death if the demands were not met.
Acting on the information, law enforcement personnel, led by SHO Mirpur Asghar Khan, initiated a professional investigation. A review of CCTV footage from the local Daewoo bus terminal revealed that the abductee had taken an inDriver taxi upon arriving in the city.
Investigators successfully traced the taxi driver, whose identification of the suspects led a police team to a location in the Usmanabad area. During a raid on the premises, authorities arrested Wasim Abbas of Khanewal and a woman from Lahore, safely recovering Mr. Malana.