Pakistani investigators are tracking a gang comprised of Afghan nationals, which has allegedly been kidnapping and smuggling children to India and Canada.
The Nation in Pakistan reported that the gang is highly active in Pakistan and that investigators are working on “several clues’.
The gang comprise male and female Afghan nationals and enjoys support of influential officials in Islamabad, sources quoted in the paper said.
“We started thorough investigation of kidnapping of children from Islamabad followed by registration of FIR against unknown people,” an investigative officer told The Nation.
During investigation into kidnapping of the ‘Khurshid’ case, not only have the police traced whereabouts of abducted children but also found that a gang was operating in country with their prime target to kidnap children to smuggle them abroad, the paper said.
The initial investigation centres around a woman from Afghanistan named Shakiba Wahidi who has settled in Canada after claiming refugee status.
She had married a man 11 years ago named Khursheed who is the father of four children - Zahid Khursheed Farooq, Zohaib Khursheed Khan, Abdul Wahid Khurshid Khan and Emaan Khursheed Khan.
According to what sources told The Nation, another 30-year old Afghan national developed a relationship with Khurshid’s wife Shakiba and lured her to leave Pakistan to get settled in Canada.
Both Shakiba and her boy friend then got fake documents with the help of some officials in UNHCR (Islamabad office) and travelled to Afghanistan.
The couple then got the four children, moved them to India from Afghanistan, according to case documents.
While police were pursuing this case, they found clues about a gang operating within Islamabad with a focus on kidnapping children from different localities of Pakistan to smuggle them to India, Middle East and Canada.
However, the sources declined to reveal further detail in this regards, the paper said.
When contacted by The Nation, a high ranking official from the federal Interior Ministry of Pakistan confirmed existence of this gang, however, declined to reveal further details.
“Let me assure you that the concerned department is very close to bust this gang and we will share the detail with you after that,” he said.
When contacted, the father of children, a manager of a guesthouse, confirmed abduction of his children along with his wife and appealed to the Interior minister and other higher authorities to help him get back his children who have been smuggled to India.
“I am in touch with my children who are living a miserable life in a refugee camp in India. I want them back my home, please help me,” the father of kidnapped children said.