DADU: Police on Tuesday claimed to have arrested one of the two prime suspects in the kidnapping, torture and murder case of the son of a trader in Marvi Colony of Dadu town.

Mubashir Arain, 22, son of trader Mohammed Hanif Arain, was found strangled last Thursday, three days after he was kidnapped. Mr Arain said the kidnappers had demanded Rs5 million for his son’s release but killed him when the payment of ransom was delayed.

Dadu SSP Tariq Razzaque Dharejo told a press conference on Tuesday that a team of investigators comprising the official in charge of the local CIA Naik Mohammed Khoso, City DSP Nazeer Ahmed Solangi and A-Section SHO Akbar Channa, interrogated many suspects and found two of them, Rana Ziauddin Abbasi and Maulvi Shafiqur Rehman, close friends of deceased Mubashir Arain, involved in the kidnapping.

The SSP said that Maulvi Rehman, an activist of a banned organisation, fled the town sensing danger of his arrest when police succeeded in finding several clues to the kidnappers. Rana Abbasi, he added, gave details of the crime the two suspects committed.

He quoted Abbasi as stating that Mubashir Arain, a resident of Ghraib Abad Mohalla of Dadu town, was invited to tea at a rented house in Marvi Colony and given a doze of some drug that caused him to fall unconscious. According to Abbasi, the hostage repeatedly tried to escape when he regained consciousness but was tortured to foil his attempts. In the meantime, his father was contacted to demand ransom, he added.

Abbasi reportedly told the police that he and Maulvi Rehman had planned to leave the country as soon as they received the ransom. He said they had decided to kill the hostage in any case because he knew them.

Dadu Civil Hospital medical superintendent Dr Vijay Kumar, who performed the victim’s post-mortem examination, told the media that Mubashir Arain’s both arms and neck had been broken and his body bore marks of intense torture all over. The death was, however, caused by strangulation, he said.

The SSP said that raids were being conducted in different parts of Dadu district to arrest Maulvi Rehman.

He said the investigators found clues to the kidnappers with the help of calls made on Mr Arain’s mobile phone by the kidnappers.

Hanif Arain is a well known trader in the town, which saw a complete shutdown soon after the news of his son’s murder spread on Thursday. He was present along with some of his close relatives at the press conference held at the local CIA centre.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2014