Karachi, June 01: Renowned industrialist Riaz Lalji, who went missing in Karachi on Sunday hours after arriving in the city from abroad, has returned home safely on Monday, after nearly 24 hours, a police spokesman said.
Lalji landed in Karachi aboard PIA’s flight PK-214 and went missing along with his gunman and driver. He was last contacted while he was passing through Sharea Faisal near Karachi airport. His car was found abandoned a few kilometres from the airport.
According to reports, his kidnappers dropped him on a road near the Hub area that serves as a buffer between Karachi and Balochistan and known to be a safe haven for criminals.
Mystery still shrouds the identity of Lalji’s kidnappers and the police were not disclosing if anyone had been arrested in this connection.
However, Interior Minister Rehman Malik praised the Inter-Services Intelligence personnel for the speedy recovery of the businessman.
The minister also did not name the abductors, but the local press reported that the industrialist was taken into custody by operatives of intelligence agencies.
Disappearance of Lalji, who is regarded as a close friend of President Asif Ali Zardari, created panic among the security agencies and Karachi police and a massive manhunt was launched for his recovery.
His disappearance forced Rehman Malik to fly into the city as well as President Zardari who too had arrived from abroad, to stay here and supervise the safe recovery of his friend.
According to police, at least two vehicles which looked like police mobiles were used by the kidnappers in the abduction. Lalji, who owns Abbas Steel Group, is allegedly involved in a million dollar scam involving Pakistan Steel.
Incidents of kidnapping for ransom have become common in Karachi in recent years. More than 90 cases of kidnapping for ransom were reported in the year 2008, followed by at least 85 in 2009.