BAHAWALNAGAR: The family of a youth, who was allegedly kidnapped 13 days ago and found dead in a well despite the family having paid Rs1.5 million ransom, staged a protest against the A Division police by placing the body on the road at Rafiq Shah Chowk on Wednesday.

The family of 22-year-old Talha Arshad, a resident of Mohalla Tailianwala, told the media that Talha, who recently passed his M Phil exam from the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, left home on a bike on Jan 17 and did not return. The next day, with the intervention of a lawyer, the A Division police registered a kidnap case on the complaint of Talha’s brother Irfan Arshad.

They said on Jan 21, the captors sent a video of Talha tied with a rope, from his Whatsapp number and demanded Rs10 million ransom for his release. On Jan 23, the suspects shared a cryptocurrency account (Binance) to send the ransom amount. The family, after negotiating with the suspects, sent Rs1.5m to their Binance account, but they did not release Talha.

They said on Jan 31, the tortured body of the victim, packed in a suitcase, was found in a well near a posh area.

Kamran Arshad, the victim’s brother, told Dawn that police played the role of a silent spectator instead of taking timely action when the victim’s mobile phone turned active on Jan 21 and 23.

He said police were allegedly working so slowly in this case that the family had to spend money to buy call data record (CDR) from an agency.

A Division Station House Officer Saifullah was not available for comment.

DPO’s spokesperson Zahid Rasool, however, said the police were active in the case and kept in touch with the victim’s family. He said the mobile phone of the victim was switched on at the locations of Bahawalnagar and Donga Bonga and the special police teams were searching for the captors in these places.

He said the police also tried their best to trace the WiFi location of the suspects, but they were constantly using VPN.

He said on the demand of the protesters, the SHO was removed from the police station and an inquiry was initiated against him.

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2024