Sindh Inspector General of Police Riffat Mukhtar Raja can be seen in this image released on October 10, 2023. — Facebook/Sindh Police

Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Riffat Mukhtar Raja on Sunday appointed the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) DIG as the inquiry officer as he ordered an impartial investigation into alleged kidnappings of citizens for ransom by CTD personnel.

The Sindh police chief said necessary action should be taken immediately in the case. The IGP ordered the inquiry after taking notice of a video that went viral on social media as well as aired by news channels in which a man, Gul Muhammad, alleged that CTD personnel had abducted him and his friend Muhammad Noor, who were residents of Sohrab Goth, in the Board Office area and released them after getting ransom.

“Two days ago, police officers in plainclothes near the Board Office abducted us. On Friday, I and Muhammad Noor were going on a motorcycle. We stopped near the Board Office to refuel the motorcycle. Plainclothes personnel in a police mobile and on motorcycles approached us,” said Gul in the video.

“The officers in plainclothes covered our faces with shirts and took us away. I could recognise the officers as their faces were not hidden. Both of us were kidnapped and badly tortured,” he claimed. Gul said that the kidnappers initially demanded Rs3 million from their families for their release but then decreased the amount to Rs300,000.

They warned the families that in case ransom was not paid, they would foist a hand grenade on them and register a case. Gul said the kidnappers told them that they belonged to the Garden CTD and they also collected the ransom money at the Garden CTD office. He said he and his companion were released after the ransom was paid.