Recovered mother and youth demand action against kidnappers

PT Correspondent

Islamabad, November 20: Last week, a group of men had kidnapped 18 years old Sajjad Ahmad Jan along with his mother from Pattan area of Kohistan at gunpoint, while the two along with others were on their way towards Rawalpindi. Their vehicle had been stopped and the mother and son had been taken out by armed men. The two were, then, taken to an unidentified location within Pattan area. A couple of days back, the two were recovered in a dramatic manner by MNA Sarzamin, an influential regional leader. They area free, but loath the fact that no action has been taken against the kidnappers.

Pamir Times talked to Sajjad, to learn about his ordeal. Giving details, Sajjad said that they were kidnapped from Pattan and kept in the same area for some days. “When they heard of a police raid in the area they shifted us to the Jajjal region. Where exactly they kept us in Jajjal area I cannot say”, Sajjad said.

Responding to a question, Sajjad said that the armed kidnapper mistreated them and threatened to kill them every now and then. He said that there were around 15-20 people in the group, who would take turns to act as sentinels.

“They told us that they have demanded 1 crore rupees in ransom”, he added. “However, it wasn’t clear why they had kidnapped us.”

Soon after the kidnapping,  a brother of Sajjad had filed an application with the Kohistan police regarding the incident.

“MNA Sarzameen came in his vehicle to get us out of there. Some companions of the kidnappers were also sitting in his vehicles”, Sajjad Ahmad Jan recalled. He says that the kidnappers threated him and his mother to give a statement of the kidnappers’ choice in front of the police. “If you don’t exactly say what we have told you, we will get you back here and kill you”, he remembers being told.

Sajjad says that while he and his mother are happy to be recovered, the police has yet to arrest the kidnappers and present them in a court for justice.

“We have not received justice”, he told Pamir Times on phone. “Our kidnappers should be arrested and punished for being involved in an illegal and inhuman act”, Sajjad demanded.

Sajjad, who is a second year student at a college in Rawalpindi says that his family has not received any threats from the kidnappers so far. “We will not remain silent till we get justice”, he said adamantly.