ISLAMABAD – Punjab authorities have decided to approach the government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Sindh as militants and criminals from both provinces may be involved in the rising wave of kidnappings. This was said by a senior Punjab government official, requesting not to be named, in light of an information leak.
This year, 767 children have been kidnapped from the big cities in Punjab such as Lahore, Faisalabad, Bahawalpur and Bahawalnagar. However the actual number is said to be a lot higher since some victims tend not to involve the police.
The official said that due to operations against militants and criminals in Karachi, North Waziristan and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), some of the escaped elements had taken refuge in parts of Punjab.
He said that military action in Fata had resulted in criminals sprouting from different places, mainly K-P because of it’s close proximity to the tribal region. While some terrorists also supervise criminal activities in Punjab from areas on the border of the province including Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Mardan, Kohat and Peshawar.
Rana Sanaullah, Punjab Law minister, also said that the gangs kidnapping children had offshoots in other provinces but he did not elaborate on this further.
He advised parents to keep an eye on their children in public places as an unsupervised child specially in a public place is a soft target.
Supreme Court has taken notice of the troubling rise in kidnappings in Punjab, and has ordered a detailed report from the Punjab police, which had told the judges last week about the recovery of 715 children.
