Karachi Police are "uniformed criminals", says report

Karachi [Pakistan], April 18 : An institution which is created to uphold law and order in the country is involved in kidnapping for ransom and this is the sorry state of affairs of Karachi Police in Pakistan, reported Dawn.
This comes after The Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) police, in collaboration with law enforcement agencies, raided Shah Latif Town police station and recovered two youngsters who were abducted for ransom by Karachi Police, reported The News International.
The two kidnapped youths Asad and Arman, were abducted from Zakaria Goth for a ransom of Rs 50 lakh, but a deal was settled for Rs 10 lakh.
The law-enforcement officers who had been pursuing the case managed to trace and nab four suspects who had arrived to receive the abductees' ransom. Of the four arrested, two were later discovered to be active-duty policemen. One suspect who managed to flee is also said to belong to the Malir Division police team, reported Dawn.
The interrogation of the suspects revealed the location of the abductees and that the young men had been kidnapped on the orders of the Shah Latif Town SHO, who, upon questioning, accused personnel from the Malir police.
However, the Shah Latif SHO denied his involvement in the kidnapping of the two youths. He has, however, been suspended and the District Malir SSP has initiated an inquiry to ascertain how the abducted youths were brought and kept at the Shah Latif police station.
"I have no link with the kidnapping," the suspended Shah Latif SHO, Malik Mazhar Iqbal Awan, said as he spoke to The News. "Those who were involved in the kidnapping have been arrested and a case against them registered."
The family of the abducted youth started receiving ransom calls, and the abductors began collecting the money in return for releasing the hostages.
After receiving the case, the AVCC police initiated a search for the abductors, and the investigation was carried out on technical grounds. As soon as the abductors received the ransom money, they were taken into custody by the AVCC police, and the hostages were recovered from the room of the police station, reported The News.
During the interrogation, the suspects revealed that the hostages had been kept in a room at the Shah Latif Town police station. The youths were kidnapped by a private party of the SHO who claimed that they were kept in the police station by a special team of the Malir police. "Neither did my mobile van go to pick up anyone nor did I know about any kidnapping," he said.
This comes following the recovery of kidnapped men from a police station in District Central in the last week of March.
In the last week of March, the SHOs of the North Nazimabad and Hyderi police stations were suspended after three abducted friends were recovered from the North Nazimabad police station, reported The News.
A case was registered against police personnel and others on the complaint of relatives of the abducted citizens. The FIR read that the kidnappers had demanded a ransom of Rs 5 lakhs for the release of the three men.
It also read that the kidnappers asked the complainant to come to different areas along with the ransom money and lastly, they asked him to come to the North Nazimabad police station.
Moreover, the Sindh government must be asked why so many dangerous criminals are walking around the country's largest city wearing official uniforms, reported Dawn.
In recent years, dozens of police officers have been booked for criminal activities, and hundreds kicked off the police force for their criminal records.