Trend to use forces uniform for kidnappings, robberies rises

PESHAWAR: Already frightened by the growing incidence of extortions, kidnappings for ransom and target-killings, citizens here are concerned due to the recently reported robberies and kidnappings by the groups wearing the uniform of the security forces.

A number of such incidents were reported from different parts of the provincial capital while many other went unreported. In one such incident, armed attackers wearing the uniform of the security forces broke into a house in Mashokhel at around 3am and picked up seven members of the family who were asleep.

Nobody offered resistance as they mistook the intruders for the security forces’ personnel. Three of those taken away were later killed while four others managed to escape.

Another incident was reported in Phase-VI of Hayatabad, the posh township where armed robbers in uniform reportedly broke into the house of one Ikramullah. After making the family members hostage, they collected cash, valuables and gold ornaments before fleeing.

Similar incidents are being reported from the adjacent tribal areas, where people are being picked up and robbed by armed men in uniform of the security forces. In one such attack reported from the Jamalkhel area of Jamrud, armed attackers impersonating security personnel seized one Salim Khan from his house.

“People in Peshawar are already worried due to the increasing number of incidents of kidnapping and target killings as well as calls for extortion. Now this new trend has added to their scare,” said Imranullah, a resident of the one of the villages in southern Peshawar.

He feared the practice would lead to a situation when people would not cooperate with the members of the security forces as they would be unable to decide if they are real or impersonators.

There are reports that a banned group is involved in the increasing incidents of kidnappings in the suburban and rural Peshawar. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman at a recent public rally on the Grand Trunk Road in Peshawar lashed out at the government and police bosses by claiming that well-off people are getting frequent calls for extortion, but the government has failed to improve the situation.