Senseless tragedies

Recently the city has witnessed two horrible cases of kidnapping for ransom – senseless tragedies leading to loss of precious lives. In both the cases, the victims were killed and the bodies were buried, one in a godown in Westridge and the other in a courtyard of a rented house in Naseerabad. The trend of 'close friends' kidnapping a 'friend' continued when Rehman Ghani, a young fruit merchant, went missing on March 15. On that fateful day, the friends came to Ghani's home in Zia Colony and called him out. Not enjoying good reputation in the locality, Ghani and his pals were considered close buddies. But when Ghani did not return home, as is the practice, the family started searching for him on its own. As their long search remained unproductive, they finally went to police. After a few days, the kidnappers contacted the family and demanded Rs2 million for Ghani's release. The demand was too high for the poor father of Ghani. After 'talks' with the kidnappers, the family paid Rs400,000 in ransom in Pindi Bhattian. Though the family paid the money to kidnappers, they had no idea that their son was already no more in this world. Investigators tracked down the callers who had been in contact with the parents of Ghani. When the four people were arrested allegedly for kidnapping and killing Ghani, they turned out to be his 'friends'. Their fifth accomplice, who according to the police belonged to Afghanistan, is still at large. Police said the arrested persons confessed to kidnapping and strangulating Ghani and told police that they buried his body in a godown. Malik Allah Yar, the investigating officer, said Ghani was forced to drink liquor at gunpoint and directed to contact his father on cellphone to convince him to meet the kidnappers' demand. The IO said the victim was strangulated by friends after they realised that they would be in trouble if they spared Ghani. One of the kidnappers included Mohammad Javaid, a tailor in the locality who had close relations with Ghani's family for years. Only four days after Ghani's tragic death, decomposed body of a kidnapped taxi driver, Akhtar Jahangir, was recovered from the courtyard of a house in Naseerabad. The body of Jahangir was found after his brother Akhtar Munir informed the police that his missing brother was seen going towards Tarnol in his taxi along with two persons. Police raided the home of Mohammad Ijaz, who confessed to kidnapping and killing Jahangir, with the help of his accomplice, Qasim of Sheikhupura. Police said the two tortured Janangir before strangulating him to death and burying the body in the house's courtyard. Police said the motive behind the kidnapping was to snatch the vehicle. Ijaz, a scavenger, was selling the parts of Jahangir's dismantled cab. Sub-Inspector Tariq Mehmood, who is leading the investigation, said police were looking a woman, Rani, who had 'friendly' relations with Ijaz. The alleged kidnappers who ended up as killers have been arrested, but the two families have lost their sons to lust for quick money. Though the investigators have linked the two gruesome murders to 'poverty', police need to review their crime combating strategies to bring down the number of such heedless crimes.