The kidnappers on Saturday demanded a hefty Rs50 million ransom for the release of kidnapped child Sagar Kumar who was snatched along with some other people more than a month ago from a hotel in Kashmore. Reportedly, the abductors placed a phone call to the family of Sagar Kumar and demanded Rs50 million ransom for his release. They threatened to kill Kumar and throw his body into River Indus if the family failed to pay the ransom.

The dacoits also warned the family to not waste their time and lend an ear to the false promises of feudal lords and police. “If the ransom is not paid, we will kill Kumar,” they threatened. It is pertinent to mention here that people staged a sit-in on Dera Morr situated on the border area of Sindh, Punjab, and Balochistan for four days, demanding the recovery of Kumar and other abductees. Protest demonstrations were also held in various cities across Sindh. Four protests were held at Teen Talwar area in Karachi.

The organisers of the Minority Rights and Aurat March held two protests early this week at Teen Talwar in Clifton to condemn the failure of the police and the caretaker Sindh cabinet in ensuring the recovery of Sagar Kumar and another abductee Priya Kumari. However, three other abductees Mukhi Jagdish, Jaideep Kumar, and Dr Munir were recovered. But the protesters rued that the Sindh police registered no FIR of these abductions.

The family of Kumar said that four times the authorities assured them of his recovery in 48 hours but to no avail. They said that provincial Law Minister Umar Somroo also promised that Kumar would be recovered within 48 hours but four days had passed by and there was no trace of his whereabouts. Kumar and others were taken away by dacoits when they attacked a hotel in Kashmore 45 days ago.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)