Pakistan: Four policemen booked for kidnapping, extorting money from citizens

Islamabad [Pakistan], January 23 : Four Islamabad policemen were booked for kidnapping and extorting Pakistani Rs 1 million from three citizens, local media reported on Sunday.
One of the officials has been arrested and the others have gone into hiding, Dawn reported. Besides, three other policemen were suspended for taking bribes from a motorist.
A police spokesperson said both the incidents were directly reported to Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad Mohammad Ahsan Younas by the victims at an open court.
Irfanullah, a native of Khyber district of KP, complained to the IGP that he along with his friends Mohammad Fayaz and Mohammad Ali was going to Murree in a car when three persons wearing the capital police's uniform and riding a private Alto intercepted them at the Sangjani toll plaza, Dawn reported.
It further reported that the Alto had tinted glasses and was without a registration plate. He said the policemen tied their hands and bundled them into their car and blindfolded them.
Later, they took them to a flat and threatened them with dire consequences, including registration of a fake case against them, and demanded Pakistani Rs 1 million for their release, said the Pakistani publication.
The complainant said he called his family and asked them to arrange and bring the amount to the capital, the spokesperson said. Later, the amount was arranged and paid to the policemen.
Meanwhile, the inquiry found the involvement of four policemen in the crime.
A case was registered against them at the Tarnol police station under section 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement) and 382 (theft after preparation made for causing death, hurt or restraint in order to the committing of the theft) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), Dawn reported.