From Karachi to DI Khan: Owais Shah narrates his kidnap ordeal

KARACHI: Owais Shah, son of Chief Justice Sindh High Court (SHC) Sajjad Ali Shah, on Wednesday narrated his ordeal in 29 days' captivity of kidnappers from Karachi to Dera Ismail (DI) Khan.

Two officials of Karachi police including head of the investigation committee today met with Barrister Owais Shah. Recording his statement, Shah told that on June 20 four to five suspects surrounded him as he made his way out of a shopping center in Clifton.

"One of the kidnappers put a gun to my leg and another shouted, 'shoot him'," he told. "A third man said 'No! Take him along'".

Owais Shah told that the kidnappers bundled him into a car and fled the scene. He said that for next 10 days he was kept inside a house in Karachi and the kidnappers, who conversed in Pashto, didn't ask him anything.

He recounted that the kidnappers chose Eid holidays to whisk him out of Karachi, adding, "They tried twice but failed due to security checks everywhere in the megapolis".

They, however, succeeded in sneaking out of Karachi on the 11th day, told the high-profile abductee who was recently recovered in an operation by the Pakistan Army. A large vehicle transported them to interior Sindh.

After a night's stay in Sukkur, Owais Shah told, the abductors shifted him to DI Khan. This was the place he was handed over to another group.

Shah told he was seated in the back of the vehicle with two men on either side, who occasionally conversed in Pashto, as his new captors headed from DI Khan. Suddenly, a burst of gunfire was heard and he bent down.

"The kidnappers also retaliated," he added. "But, then a gunshot hit the windshield of the vehicle, making it to wave and stop eventually."

"When the vehicle stopped, the men sitting on either side disembarked and soon I heard some people speaking Punjabi," Shah recalled, adding that he took a sigh of relief when the ones coming to his rescue introduced themselves.

He shared all these details with the investigation team led by DIG Sultan Khuwaja and DIG Muneer Sheikh. The investigators will submit the statement in form of a report with the Supreme Court (SC) tomorrow.