The business of fear

On February 16 this year, Parvez Akbar, a father and security guard with modest means, faced one of any parent's worst nightmares: His 11-year-old son Ali Akbar vanished without a trace from the Factory Area of Lahore.
Fearing his son had been kidnapped, Parvez did what any distraught parent would do. He rushed to the local police station and filed a report, hoping for his son's safe return.
The very next day, he received a spine-chilling call on his cellphone: if he didn't pay the kidnappers Rs700,000 in ransom, they would kill his son and dump the body over a thousand kilometres away in Karachi.
This is not an isolated story. Over the past several months, kidnapping for ransom cases have surged, becoming an unsettling part of life's undercurrent in the country — quietly flourishing in the shadows of cities like Lahore, Karachi, and Peshawar. From young children and schoolteachers to cryptocurrency traders and ordinary citizens, no one is immune.
Behind the headlines are families pushed to the brink, victims broken in body and spirit, and a criminal ecosystem that shifts shapes — from honey traps and fake abductions to cases where the abductors wear the very uniforms meant to protect.
In some regions, the police are turning a corner — armed with geo-fencing, surveillance tools and better training. In others, mistrust runs so deep that families choose to negotiate with kidnappers directly, fearing the police might make things worse.
Numbers that terrify
Kidnapping remained a persistent threat across various regions of Pakistan in 2024, with alarming figures reported from Punjab, Karachi, and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. While some areas showed strong recovery rates, discrepancies in official data sources raise concerns about transparency and reporting accuracy.
In Punjab alone, 5,911 kidnapping cases were reported in 2024, with the demographic breakdown revealing troubling trends. Among those abducted, 3,033 were women; of these, 1,582 cases were resolved, reflecting a 52per cent resolution rate. Although the number of adult male victims was lower — 2,130 reported cases — only 940 were resolved, resulting in an even lower resolution rate of 44per cent. Meanwhile, 669 children were reported kidnapped, with 485 cases successfully solved — a comparatively higher resolution rate of 72per cent.
While Karachi's 2024 kidnapping statistics were lower than those reported in Punjab, inconsistencies between official sources remained a concern. Figures released by the Karachi Police's Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) and the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) continued to show the same discrepancies observed in previous years.
According to the AVCC, 49 kidnapping cases were reported in Karachi in 2024. This included 11 cases involving 'honey trap' schemes, while the remaining incidents were traditional abductions, often carried out at gunpoint. Notably, the AVCC claimed that all victims were recovered.
District East recorded the highest number of cases at 14, followed by District South and Malir with 10 cases each. District Central reported eight cases, while District West, Keamari, and Korangi had two each. Only one case was reported in District City.
In contrast to the AVCC numbers, the CPLC reported just 20 kidnapping-for-ransom cases in Karachi for the entire year — a stark difference from the AVCC's figure of 49. This gap mirrors previous years, as CPLC data for both 2022 and 2023 consistently reflected significantly lower numbers than those reported by the AVCC.
Meanwhile, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Police Department recorded 49 kidnapping-for-ransom cases in 2024, with a reported recovery rate of 67per cent. Historical data indicates that the issue remains persistent in the region. In Peshawar alone, 57 cases were reported in 2022 and 40 in 2023, reflecting a steady but concerning trend.
Honey-traps to police involvement
Of the thousands of kidnapping cases reported annually in Punjab, a significant number involve young women who leave home to marry by choice. In many such instances, the girl's family files an abduction report against the groom. These cases often unravel within days, revealing that the report was wrongly filed. They are typically resolved either through family negotiations or legal proceedings.
Another deeply concerning trend is the rise of so-called 'honey trap' kidnappings. In these cases, a woman lures the victim to a remote location — often in the 'Kacha' area — where armed criminals abduct the individual and demand ransom. Families frequently end up paying large sums for their loved one's release. Inheritance disputes and personal vendettas have also led to instances where relatives kidnap each other's children.
Like Punjab, kidnapping-for-ransom in Karachi is not always the work of large-scale organised gangs, according to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Anil Haider of the Sindh Police's AVCC. In an interview with The Express Tribune, Haider revealed that many of these crimes are carried out by individual criminals who typically use two methods: forcibly abducting someone at gunpoint or employing a 'honey trap' to deceive and capture victims. Haider confirmed that all hostages kidnapped in Karachi have been successfully recovered and all suspects arrested.
Haider also addressed the murder of a young man named Mustafa, whose family reportedly received a ransom demand via WhatsApp. He said investigations are underway with the suspects to determine if there was any link to a ransom scheme. In general, the AVCC finds it most challenging when abductees are taken out of Karachi to other cities or provinces.
A senior crime reporter, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that short-term kidnappings have surged in Karachi over the past few years. In these cases, victims are held for a brief period — kept within city limits but frequently moved from one location to another to evade law enforcement.
In Karachi, some police personnel have also been found involved in kidnapping-for-ransom. Recently, the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) arrested seven suspects, including Omar Jilani, an official from the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD). They allegedly abducted a cryptocurrency trader named Muhammad Arsalan from Manghopir on December 24, 2024, and drained $340,000 from his crypto accounts.
In another case, police arrested an officer stationed at the Tipu Sultan Police Station, accused of carrying out short-term kidnappings along with a fellow officer. They allegedly kidnapped a citizen from the Saddar area for a few hours, extracting a 30,000-rupee ransom from his family.
In December, the AVCC apprehended Sub-Inspector Saeed on charges of abducting a man named Mohsin Amin from the Garden area. Reportedly, the next day he collected 2.5 million rupees in ransom from Amin's wife before releasing him. The officers involved were allegedly stationed in District Central.
Cases similar to those in Karachi — where police and other officials were found complicit in abductions — have also emerged in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. In several instances, the officials involved were eventually subjected to legal action. One particularly notable case was reported from Peshawar in December 2024, when the Capital City Police arrested an Excise Department official implicated in a kidnapping-for-ransom scheme. The arrest, triggered by a citizen's complaint, underscored the disturbing extent to which criminal elements have infiltrated state institutions.
Mistrust in law-enforcers
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and its newly-merged districts remain lawless lands where criminals operate fearlessly. Among the most rampant crimes prevailing in these regions are cases of kidnapping, with abductors holding victims without fear of legal repercussions due to weak law enforcement.
Peshawar has become a hub for organised kidnapping networks, where armed criminals extort money or abduct victims at gunpoint. Alarmingly, some law enforcement officials have also been involved.
Zafar Ali, a resident of Peshawar, told The Express Tribune that kidnappings have become a daily occurrence. He explained that families of victims often negotiate directly with kidnappers instead of involving the police. "If law enforcement gets involved, the hostage is often killed, which is why people prefer to settle matters through intermediaries," he said.
Ali also noted that in the past, organised crime syndicates were behind these kidnappings, but their influence has somewhat declined in recent years. However, individual criminal groups continue to pose a serious threat.
Prominent lawyer and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Moazzam Butt expressed deep concern over the rising number of kidnappings. He cited a harrowing case where four members of a family were abducted from their home in Peshawar and remain missing. Despite repeated appeals to the authorities, the victims' families have received no response from the police.
The silence of law enforcement has only fuelled fear and frustration among residents, who believe that criminals operate with impunity. With organised crime thriving and public trust in the police dwindling, Peshawar's kidnapping crisis remains a major security challenge.
The police department was contacted repeatedly for the purpose of this story but there was no response given.
The anguish behind the stats
Kidnapping for ransom not only imposes severe financial hardship on the victim's family but can also shatter the abductee's life. Former Karachi Superintendent of Police Niaz Khoso, who has extensive experience investigating and leading operations against such crimes, recently shared a harrowing case on social media.
During his tenure at the CIA Jamshed Quarters, a robbery took place at a bungalow in Karachi's Gulshan-e-Iqbal locality. As the robbers fled, they abducted a woman named Farah — a schoolteacher who had been married just six months earlier. The next day, using Farah's phone, the kidnappers contacted her husband and demanded a ransom of Rs20 million.
Cautious in their approach, the kidnappers constantly changed locations across Karachi to evade detection. They would briefly call from Farah's phone, issue their demands, and then switch the device off — making it difficult for authorities to track them.
The ordeal lasted for 25 agonising days. Eventually, the kidnappers agreed to lower their demand, settling on a ransom of Rs6 million. Farah's husband was instructed to wait in his car and be ready to deliver the money as soon as they called with the drop-off location.
According to former SP Niaz Khoso, criminals in Karachi often use motorcycles to evade capture. 'They usually escape by riding against traffic on the wrong side of the road,' he explained, 'because it's nearly impossible for anyone — especially law enforcement — to chase them in those conditions.'
For two days, the kidnappers directed Farah's husband to multiple locations, keeping him — and the police — on edge. On the third day, they finally called him to a spot near Allah Wali Chowrangi. One of the kidnappers arrived on a powerful 500cc motorcycle, collected the ransom bag, and, in a typical evasive manoeuvre, turned the bike sharply in front of the car and sped off against oncoming traffic. But this time, the police were ready. They managed to apprehend the suspect before he could disappear.
After a brief interrogation, the kidnapper revealed the location of the bungalow where Farah was being held. A police team launched a raid. Following an exchange of gunfire, they stormed the building and found Farah locked in a room on the upper floor.
Traumatised and visibly shaken, Farah initially gave a false name and refused to admit she had been kidnapped. But when the police allowed her to speak to her husband on the phone, her composure crumbled. She broke down in tears and finally acknowledged the truth: she was Farah.
About a year later, the same officer happened to run into Farah's husband at a five-star hotel in Karachi. A young woman, someone who was clearly not Farah, accompanied him. Introducing her as his second wife, he shared what had happened since Farah's rescue.
After returning home, Farah began suffering from severe trauma. Night after night, she would wake up screaming and crying. Despite visiting several of Karachi's top psychiatrists, her condition showed no signs of improvement. Eventually, with a heavy heart, her husband admitted her to a psychiatric hospital in Nazimabad.
In some cases, kidnappers extort ransom multiple times — and the incidents are never officially reported. According to former SP Niaz Khoso, one of the apprehended suspects confessed that the case involving Farah was only their second kidnapping-for-ransom operation in Karachi. A year earlier, the same group had abducted a young woman from the Defence area and transported her to Lahore. Over a six-month period, they extracted ransom payments on four separate occasions before finally sending her back to Karachi on a PIA flight. That case, Khoso noted, was never reported to the police or even to the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee — likely because the victim's family remained silent to avoid social stigma or protect their reputation.
The arrested kidnapper further revealed a chilling pattern: before targeting Karachi, the group had kidnapped six girls from Lahore and three from Rawalpindi — extorting money multiple times in each case.
Technology to the rescue
While some investigations still rely on traditional policing methods, modern technology has become increasingly essential for delivering timely and effective results. Some kidnapping cases end in tragedy when police fail to respond swiftly or neglect to utilise modern investigative tools. However, advancements in technology are increasingly shaping how such cases are handled.
According to AIG Punjab Khalid Mehmood Afzal, the use of modern investigation methods and professional training at police stations across the province has significantly improved the resolution rate of kidnapping cases. He added that scientific techniques are now delivering better outcomes and offering families a greater sense of relief. Many cases, he noted, originate from personal enmities and grudges, often uncovered during the course of investigations.
For Parvez Akbar, the threat of kidnapping seemed not just unimaginable — it felt impossible. But when his son Ali was abducted, it took just 48 hours for a mix of modern police technology, skilled tracking, and a stroke of luck to lead to the boy's rescue.
The abductor? A member of the extended family — someone who knew just enough about Parvez's financial situation to orchestrate a ransom scheme.
Following standard protocol, the police advised Akbar to stay in contact with the kidnappers so they could trace their movements. Initial signals placed them in the Ravi Road area of Lahore, then in Shahdara. Eventually, the suspects moved to a hotel in Kot Lakhpat, where police used locator technology to apprehend them.
One of the suspects, Shahid, confessed that he was the brother of Akbar's son-in-law. He had discovered that Akbar had recently pooled Rs500,000 through a rotating savings committee and devised a plan to demand Rs700,000 in ransom — hoping to settle for the 500,000. Driven by greed, he abducted the boy. Thankfully, police intervention ensured Ali was rescued unharmed within 48 hours.
Investigative expert Kokab Jamal Zuberi emphasised the urgent need for police to fully adopt modern technology in handling kidnapping cases, rather than relying on outdated investigative methods. He highlighted geo-fencing as a particularly effective tool, enabling authorities to track suspects by analysing phone usage patterns and location data. 'Punjab Police should rely on technology to solve as many cases as possible,' he urged.
With the continued adoption of advanced investigative tools and strategies, authorities in Punjab hope to curb the alarming rate of abductions and offer faster, more effective relief to families in crisis.
While the police have been successful in recovering kidnapped victims and apprehending perpetrators, there is still a need for improved investigation and prosecution of these cases.
The devastating consequences of kidnapping for ransom highlight the need for awareness and action. It is essential for the authorities to take concrete steps to prevent such crimes and provide support to victims and their families.

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