Kidnaping bid of varsity student foiled

KARACHI : Police on Saturday arrested a rickshaw driver for attempting to kidnap a female student.

The suspect, Wasim Usman, was arrested during a raid conducted in Lyari within the limits of the Baghdadi police station. A pistol and a stolen rickshaw were also seized from his possession. According to District City SSP Sarfaraz Nawaz, the suspect was a habitual criminal and around half a dozen cases pertaining to police encounters, robberies and snatchings had been registered against him at different police stations.

SSP Nawaz said the suspect had on June 13 snatched a mobile phone at gunpoint from a female student who was on her way to her varsity in the suspect’s rickshaw. The officer added that the suspect had black glasses covered with a black tape, which he forced the girl to wear at gunpoint so that she could not see the route. The officer said the suspect kidnapped the girl with the intention to get a Rs5 million ransom, but the girl jumped off from the moving rickshaw in order to free herself.

Later, a case was registered at the Baghdadi police station, after which police arrested the suspect.

He was also being questioned about his possible gang members. Further investigations are under way.