Dua Mangi returns home week after her abduction in Karachi

"It appears to be a case of kidnapping for ransom."

KARACHI (Dunya News) – A 20-year-old female law student Dua Nisar Mangi – who was kidnapped from Karachi’s Bukhari Commercial in the DHA early on Sunday – has returned home safely after paying the ransom of Rs2 million on Friday night.

The police authorities believed that law student Dua Mangi was kidnapped for ransom. Dua’s family has refrained from any talks with the media on the matter.

South Zone DIG Sharjeel Kharal, in a statement on Thursday, stated: “It appears to be a case of kidnapping for ransom […] it has been ascertained through investigation that the student was kidnapped for ransom.”

According to a Karachi police spokesperson, police were investigating the case from different aspects and more than a dozen persons had been questioned.

The police and Citizens-Police Liaison Committee were also probing into the case from the perspective of a past kidnapping case, according to a police statement.

Dua’s family members had also received suspicious phone calls on the internet from suspected kidnappers, and subsequently informed the police about it.

After that information, police widened the scope of investigations into the case, and have been examining previous kidnapping for ransom cases to trace any evidence for the suspects. Many previous unresolved cases are also being investigated.

According to earlier report, the perpetrators took off with Dua in a grey Honda Civic, the model of which was around four years old.

Police also investigated the cell phone data of both the victims and geo-fencing of the site will also be carried out.

Police obtained eight different CCTV footages of the incident and have obtained statement of a rickshaw driver, who is claimed to have seen the incident.

The CCTV footage showed Dua and Haris walking down the street minutes before the incident. In the other footage, the kidnappers are seen taking the abductee with them.

Dua was kidnapped at gunpoint from Karachi’s DHA Bukhari Commercial Area and her friend Haris was shot multiple times when both were strolling along the road after Dua had attended one of her friend’s birthday party.

Later, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Kaleem Aman took notice of the incident, and ordered immediate inquiry into the alleged kidnapping.

Investigation officers were ordered to use all means to trace the culprits and recover the girl safely. They also assured the families of the two victims of their full support and cooperation.

Soon after the incident, multiple posts went viral on the social media, spreading shocking wave and panic amongst neighbourhoods of the region.

An FIR was registered at Darakshan Police Station against unidentified men, under Sections 324 [attempted murder] and 365 [kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person] of the Pakistan Penal Code, on behalf of the injured man’s father.

The FIR stated that Haris, the friend of the abducted girl, told their family that he was going out to meet his friends.

The injured boy was rushed to a nearby hospital for medical attention, whereas the girl was whisked away by armed kidnappers.

Haris, wounded in the incident, was initially taken to the National Medical Center but later moved to the Aga Khan University Hospital. He, still in consciousness, immediately contacted his father and informed them about the incident.

The police also recorded statements of the families and friends for any possible clues about the abductors. Police have also recorded the statements of waiters and staff at the tea cafes in the area.

To widen the scope of investigation, officials also interrogated Dua’s social media friends, her family members and ex-fiancé namely Mazhar.

It was the second major kidnapping incident of a girl in the DHA. Earlier, another young girl was kidnapped in the same manner in May this year and was later released after her family paid a handsome ransom to the kidnappers.