Lahore abduction: Main suspect says girls were released after disappearance highlighted in media

• Suspect Qasim says he sold one of the missing Lahore girls to another man, Shehzad, for Rs 100,000.
• Suspect told the police that they were frightened as the missing girls’ issue had been highlighted in the media.
• Qasim says they released the girls alongside a road in Sahiwal after making a telephone call to Madadgar-15.

LAHORE: Qasim, a suspect arrested in a case relating to the abduction of four girls in Lahore, made shocking revelations before the investigation team, police said Thursday.

During the initial interrogation, Qasim, the main suspect in the case, confessed that he had sold one of the girls to a man, Shehzad, for Rs100,000. He maintained that Shehzad made a deal with another person in Sahiwal for Rs150, 000.

Police conducted a raid at Shehzad’s house in Sahiwal on August 3 and recovered five girls, he said, adding that a case had been registered in at the Ghala Mandi police station.

Shehzad had been released on bail but we were frightened as the missing girls’ issue had been highlighted in the media, said Qasim.

Meanwhile, they decided to hand over the girls to the police, he said, adding that they released the girls alongside a road in Sahiwal after making a telephone call to the police.

Earlier, on August 4, the four girls who had been missing for the last four days were found in Sahiwal.

They went missing from Lahore's Hanjarwal area. According to the police, the four girls were found in Sahiwal.

The girls had reportedly said that they were not abducted by anyone but turned off their mobile phones for fear of being reprimanded by their parents. As soon as the mobile phone of one of the girls was switched on, the police found their location.

Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar had issued directives to the Punjab Police to recover the missing girls and told the Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Lahore to submit a report.