Freed Pakistanis in Turkey not provided consular services

ISTANBUL: Six Pakistani nationals who were taken hostage by human smugglers and freed by Turkish police were not provided consular access on Thursday.

The Pakistanis freed in Istanbul have been identified as Fazal Amin, Adil Ahmed, Muhammad Zeeshan, Abid, Usman Ali and Ashbar Ahmed, according to the Foreign Office.

According to reports, the Pakistani nationals are expected to be presented before a magistrate today and prior to being deported it may take up to one week to complete all the necessary procedures at the Pakistani Consulate in Istanbul.

The Pakistanis were abducted when they were travelling to Greece to find work. The abductors brutally tortured them and filmed this to send to their families to demand ransom.

On Wednesday, Turkish police conducted a raid in the Usman Pasha area of Istanbul and freed the six Pakistanis. Turkish police said four abductors were also taken into custody.

Contact with family

One the freed Pakistanis, Usman Ali spoke with his family and told them he was injured.

According to his father, Usman told them he was being treated at a hospital in Turkey.

Abductors arrested 

On Tuesday, the Federal Investigation Agency traced the human smugglers and apprehended two of them from Gujranwala.

The suspects identified as Afzal and Sohail - both brothers - were resident of Gujranwala, FIA sources said. Afzal took people to Greece via Turkey, where they would be abducted by Sohail and his gang.

Afzal contacted families for ransom, while Sohail would send families the videos in which abductees were being tortured, sources confirmed.

An FIA team led by Deputy Director Khalid Anees had also met families of the abductees. The families shared details of the smugglers with the FIA.