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LAHORE: Hopes of recovery of American national Warren Weinstein, who went missing from his home here on Aug 13, were briefly raised on Thursday but were soon dashed by a hasty police clarification.
A news agency report in the morning said Mr Weinstein had been freed in a police operation in Khushab, some 200km from here. It was attributed to a senior police officer in Lahore. But before long, the report was denied by police who said investigators hoped the case would be solved soon.
Lahore police chief Malik Ahmed Raza Tahir told reporters the false information about Mr Weinstein’s recovery had been wrongly attributed to him.
Mr Tahir said police and intelligence officials looking for the American had carried out raids in the districts of Lahore, Gujranwala, Sheikhupura and Faisalabad and arrested three suspects with the help of cellphone tracking.
The US embassy also said it had no information indicating Mr Weinstein had been freed. “We have no information that would confirm his recovery or that would confirm that the CCPO, Lahore, did (at any stage) say that Mr Weinstein has been recovered,” Siobhan Ote-Judge, a spokesperson for the embassy told Dawn. She said a team of US embassy officials was in Lahore, in touch with police.
Mr Weinstein had been in Pakistan for seven years and worked as country director of Virginia-based development company J.E. Austin Associates. He went missing two days before he was due to end his term and return to the US. Said to be in his 60s, Mr Weinstein was dependent on a number of medicines, including some given to acute asthma patients. The passage of almost two weeks since his disappearance has led to serious concerns about his health.
Thursday’s episode added suspense to the already intriguing case in which police have typically reminded everyone of the victim’s own responsibility about his security. Police officials have been telling reporters the American had refused police guard and had instead relied on a few former commandos he had employed on his own.
Police investigators have so far failed to pin responsibility of his suspected kidnapping and there has been no demand for ransom, but mounting calls for a concerted effort to secure his release.
Earlier this week, members of Mr Weinstein’s family issued an appeal calling upon his ‘abductors’ to contact them. The impassioned appeal was emailed to Dawn by James Sandler, a spokesperson for the family on Wednesday. It said: “We love Warren and miss him and are devastated by his disappearance. We don’t understand why anyone would take him. We ask that the people who are with Warren to please contact us. We are at home in Maryland and Warren can tell you how to contact us.”
Reuters adds: Intelligence officials said an early morning rescue operation had been unsuccessful.
“He has not been recovered yet,” an intelligence officer in Punjab told Reuters.
He criticised the Lahore police chief for telling the media on Wednesday that Mr Weinstein would be recovered “soon” and jeopardising an intelligence operation to rescue him.
“There was an operation in the Khushab area this morning, but it was unsuccessful, as the captors moved away,” the intelligence officer said.
