Lahore (Staff Report) – Ali Haider Gillani was kidnapped from Multan in 2013 after an under-the-table agreement between the then Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, his father, and a group of smugglers from Mohmand agency in Pakistan’s tribal belt fell through.
According to details obtained exclusively by Daily Pakistan, a group of smugglers hailing from Mohmand Agency had orchestrated the kidnapping of the former Prime Minister’s son from an election rally that his political party, the Pakistan People’s Party, was holding in Multan in the run-up to the May 2013 General Elections.
The smugglers orchestrated the kidnapping after an under-the-table agreement between them and the then Prime Minister had fallen through for the appointment of their preferred nominee as political agent in the Mohmand tribal agency.
The smugglers had reportedly paid the then Prime Minister a total of Rs. 25 Crore (approximately $ 2.5 million) to seal the deal.
According to information verified by Daily Pakistan, the deal was struck at the Prime Minister’s house during the third week of May 2012, when three smugglers from Mohmand agency met with the then Prime Minister on “special” recommendation.
However, the deal fell through when the Prime Minister was subsequently removed from office in June 2012, on orders of the Supreme Court.
A mere 5 days after his removal from office, the former Prime Minister was paid another visit by the group of smugglers. They reportedly demanded return of the amount that they had paid him, owing to the fact that he could no longer influence the appointment of political agents in the tribal agencies.
During this meeting, Gillani reportedly assured the smugglers that he would still come through on his end of the deal as he held sway over the new prime ministerial appointee, Raja Pervez Ashraf, and was still the sitting vice-chairman of the PPP. The smugglers, on their part, extended the deadline of the deal by another week.
When a month passed and Gillani was still no closer to coming through on the deal or returning the bribed amount, he was visited by the smugglers for a third time, this time at his residence in Multan.
They informed the former Prime Minister that their preferred nominee had been appointed as the political agent of Mohmand agency through another channel, and demanded return of the bribed amount since the Prime Minister had failed to come through on his end of the deal.
Gillani reportedly told them that he could only return them his own share of 25 Crore, amounting to Rs. 2 Crore, as a major portion of the bribe had already been distributed within the ranks of his party. In response, the smugglers informed him that they would remain in Multan, specifically at the Sindbad Hotel, until the remaining 23 Crore rupees was returned to him. Giving him a 3-day deadline for return of the remaining amount, they said they would ask for Rs. 30 Crore after the deadline’s expiry.
That very same day Gillani reportedly used his contacts in the local police to put his interlocutors away in a false drug-smuggling case. However, the smugglers were exonerated by the courts in March 2013.
Upon release, they again visited the former Prime Minister at his Multan residence, this time demanding a total of Rs. 30 Crore within one week, including Rs. 5 Crore in compensation for the delay in receiving the amount owed to them. However, negotiations between the parties fell through and the smugglers left the Gillani residence soon after.
After the passage of around a month and a half, Ali Haider Gillani, the former Prime Minister’s son, was kidnapped from a PPP election rally in Multan on May 9, 2013. A few days later, received a phone call from the kidnappers, who demanded a ransom of Rs. 30 Crore.
A search operation was launched soon after by law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Gillani was being provided regular, real-time updates on its progress.
In the meanwhile, intelligence agencies had tracked the location of the kidnappers to a house in Akora Khattak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and were preparing for a lightning raid.
However, Gillani confided details of the raid to a journalist confidante. Without informing the former Prime Minister, the journalist ran the following story at the news channel he worked for: “Kidnappers encircled; Ali Haider Gillani’s release now imminent”.
This alerted the kidnappers, some of whom were able to escape to Afghanistan with Ali Haider in tow. They contacted the former Prime Minister from Afghanistan as increased their ransom demand to Rs. 55 Crore (30 Crore as the original amount, and 25 Crore to have two of their accomplices, who were caught by police in Akora Khattak, released). However, the amount was not forthcoming.
In the meanwhile, the kidnappers sold Ali Haider off to a militant group in Afghanistan for a total of Rs. 55 Crore. When this group subsequently contacted the former Prime Minister, they demanded a ransom of Rs. 80 Crore.
According to details, Gillani flatly refused to pay any more money in ransom.
