While abductions for ransom have increased in Afghan cities, the police have successfully tracked down the kidnappers in most cases. Personal enmity or the lure of easy money are generally the reasons behind these crimes.
While abductions for ransom have increased in Afghan cities, the police have successfully tracked down the kidnappers in most cases. Personal enmity or the lure of easy money are generally the reasons behind these crimes.A four-year-old called Milad went missing on Nov 3 in Parwan province. The parents, who were just leaving for a wedding, searched everywhere for their son. They even had the local mosque announce their son was missing. Late in the evening Milad’s father Abdul Hamid received a phone call from the kidnappers who demanded a huge ransom. Hamid said he begged and pleaded with the men, and they agreed to reduce the amount to 16,000 USD. “I told them for the sake of God be kind to me, but they told me that we don’t care about God!” the father told Killid.
On Dec 1, Kabul police handed Milad back to his family. General Mohammad Zahir, the chief of the Kabul police criminal investigation department, said the family was ready to pay even 200,000 USD for their son but the police were able to track down and arrest three of the kidnappers after a short gun fight in the city’s Shakardara district. Najibullah, one of the kidnappers, who was paraded before the press, expressed remorse, and said: “Hang me and my friend so other people don’t do this.”
According to General Zahir, the number of abduction cases has declined this year. “There were only six cases in the first six months of the year,” he said. “The kidnappers were arrested before the money was paid,” he claimed. The police chief did not give any more details but said most kidnappers have been at least once in jail.
On Dec 11 in Faryab province, two people were arrested for kidnapping a girl. Nabi Jan Mullahkhel, acting head of Faryab Police Commandment, said the kidnappers were attempting to move the girl from Maimana city when they were apprehended.
Bad for business
Abductions have been reported from Nangarhar. Police arrested at least 10 kidnappers, according to Hazrat Hussain Mashriqewal, chief of Nangarhar Commandment’s Press Office. Rahimullah, a resident of Jalalabad, the provincial capital, said a timber merchant called Rahmat Gul had him kidnapped in September. “Rahmat Gul had promised to pay me for wooden logs worth about 535,000 Afs (10,000 US dollars). He told me to come to Pachir Agam district (next to the border with Pakistan),” he said. “When I went there, armed people were waiting for me, and they captured me,” he added.
Rahimullah said the kidnappers asked his family for thousands of dollars. “By kindness of God security forces came to that area and I was released. I did not have money,” he said. “There were other prisoners as well. The government released us all. Rahmat Gul is now in jail.”
A year ago the son and nephew of Hajji Abdul Rahman, head of Nangarhar Money Exchange Union, were abducted. Rahman said he had to use his own resources to secure their release.
Businessmen have fled Herat after a spate of kidnappings. Ghulam Sakhi Zurmati who spoke to Killid was abducted from his house last year. He was kept in the city’s Baghdasht area while the kidnappers asked his family to pay one million dollars as ransom. When the family could not, he was taken to Sioshan area of Guzari district. “They put me in a four by four metre cave, and tortured me. They gave me electric shocks. They kept me hungry,” he said almost in tears as he recalled the horror. Zurmati was kept hostage for 72 days. His family was ready to pay 150,000 USD for his release. Neither the police nor the family would say whether the ransom money was paid.
Means of livelihood
Killid reported in July this year the abduction of a schoolboy Ahmad Ershad who was studying in Afghan Turk High School in Herat. The police secured his release.
“I was going to school when four people stopped me. They put me in a Corolla car and took me to Guzara district,” the boy told Killid. The boy who was in custody for six days, was beaten each time the kidnappers phoned his family. “They would beat me very hard so my family could hear my screams over the mobile phone,” he said.
Rustam, one of the kidnappers who was arrested by the police, told Killid his friends pushed him into a life of crime. “My friends encouraged me to do this to provide me a means of livelihood,” he said.
Mohayuddin Noor, spokesman of the Herat governor, was all praise for the security agencies. He said one hundred kidnappers have been arrested. “Most of the cases have been cleared by the courts, and they have been sentenced for 10-15-20 year jail terms,” he said.
However, Farhad Majidi, member of parliament from Herat, expressed concern that business would flee the province if security forces cannot guarantee protection from kidnappers.
* With inputs by Jamshed Malakzai from Jalalabad and Shoaib Tanha in Herat.
