Educated con-men nabbed by police

The Investigation staff of the Gizri police station has arrested two youngsters who pretended to be Military Intelligence Majors and pressurised several station house officers (SHOs) into releasing several inmates, besides being involved in other kidnapping cases. The police also recovered bogus army uniforms, identity cards and arms from their possession.

On August 3, four unknown individuals, riding in a Toyota Corolla with registration No GE-018, kidnapped a trader Mohammed Shakir s/o Mohammed Hadi from N-Lane, Phase IV, DHA. The accused along with the kidnapped, were intercepted by constable Ghulam Abbas while going towards main Gizri Avenue at which they fled the scene. In this regard police registered FIR No. 325/2008 u/s 365-PPC at Gizri Police station. The car was obtained on rent and the original number plates were found from the car.

During the course of the investigation, Station Investigation Officer (SIO) Gizri, Faryad Hussain Bhatti arrested three accused persons namely Hassan Ahmed, Khaqan Javed Qazi and Rafique along with two TTs, one nine-mm pistol and seven cartridges. Moreover, two Army Major ID cards and uniforms were found from their possession.

The accused, Ahmed and Qazi, both belonged to reputable families. Both of them were close friends and residents of the Defence Housing Authority (DHA). Ahmed said that he is an expert in computer graphics and is a student of MBA, while Qazi said that he is a student of BCS and belongs to Gujranwala. The accused told the investigators during the investigation process that they had the lust for money and power and made various plans. In this regard, they were helped by Abbas, a criminal who was the mastermind behind all their activities. Abbas told them to kidnap residents from posh locality such as Defence and PECHS and form a gang of fake army personnels, made up of labourers and guards. Qazi was assigned to fulfil this task.

Qazi said he searched for suitable people and selected eight to nine persons who were hired for Rs10,000 to Rs20,000 and told to act as police guards. Later he went to Darra Adam Khel and purchased three pistols from a man, Aziz Khan Afridi before returning back to Karachi. Moreover, Abbas the mastermind also told Ahmed to purchase army uniform and create ID cards of army personnel.

SIO Bhatti revealed that upon investigation, Hasan disclosed that he had expertise in this field and had purchased army uniforms from Malir Cantonment by showing fake Army ID cards of Military Intelligence that he created. Abbas further instructed the duo to hire a flat to detain the abductees, which Qazi duly did by renting a flat in Defence in the Building 90C. After that they were introduced by Abbas to a man who provided the duo cars on rental basis. Ahmed was supposed to make official number plates to make the cars look like they belonged to the Military Intelligence.

After planning by Abbas, Ahmed and Qazi along with their accomplice went to kidnap Adnan Shaikhani from Ferozabad area, but failed. During the attempt, the two friends wore army uniforms and rode cars with fake government number plates. In the same incident, a police guard posted for security at a minister’s residence inquired about their presence at which the accused persons asked the guard to step back as an encounter will take place in a moment. Soon a police patrolling mobile came and the suspects fled.

The duo informed Abbas of the botched attempt who told them to kidnap a gold trader and demand money from the family. As per plan, they managed to kidnap the trader but were caught by the police. The investigators also disclosed that the accused visited various police stations of the city in their fake Army uniforms and identified themselves as Majors from Military Intelligence (MI) to release suspects held by the police. Further probe is underway.