SUKKUR, Sept 14: Either it's innocence or the attraction of fairer sex that even intelligent men get trapped in quite awful situations.

However, after luring many men to fall in the trap of kidnappers, the police were successful in arresting a gang of three youths who would mimic in female voice on cell phone and sway the men on the other end to meet their beloved, even if it was a long-distance journey to another province.

It was Ghotki police that got suspicious when two men from Faisalabad reached Raunti and enquired from them about the location of Mehboob Seelro village. Police persuaded the two, Malik Asghar Jat and Ayaz Jat, to share the details of their visit to Sindh from Punjab. The two men told the police that they had come here on the invitation of girls whom they befriended on phone.

Smelling something fishy, policemen posing themselves to be Jats from Faisalabad called the hosts and told them that they had arrived in Raunti and were now waiting for them.

The trio arrived on a motorcycle and asked their guests to accompany them on their bike. Posing policemen tried to overpower them on reaching the village. A brief encounter ensued but police were successful in arresting them who later were identified as Ghulam Mohammad Malik, Amjad Malik and Ayaz Malik.

The SSP Ghotki told journalists that the criminals had confessed to their crime and further told police that their leader was Haji Qabil Shar and other members of Shar community.

Their modus operandi was to entice young men into cultivating friendship with them by mimicking in female voices. They would invite the men to visit Raunti once a fair amount of confidence was developed.

The unmindful guests reaching the destinations would then be kidnapped and handed over to Haji Qabil Shah for Rs15,000 to Rs20,000.

The SSP said that they had also traced contact numbers of the would-be victims.

Malik Asghar Jat and Ayaz Jat were also present and thanked Ghotki police for saving them at the eleventh hour.