Pakistan: Kidnapped son of top judge rescued

Sindh high court Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah (right) speaks to the media as his son Awais Ali Shah looks on in Karachi on Tuesday, after Pakistani security forces rescued Awais from his kidnappers. (Photo: AFP)

Pakistani soldiers rescued the kidnapped son of a senior judge from his Taliban captors on Tuesday, after finding him bound in chains with his mouth taped shut and wearing in an all-enveloping burqa to hide his identity, the Army spokesman said.

Awais Shah, the son of Sindh provincial Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, was kidnapped from outside a supermarket in the southern port city of Karachi on June 21.

Shah was found in the backseat of a car in a town bordering the north-western tribal areas.

Army spokesman Lieutenant General Asim Bajwa said three “terrorists” were killed during the rescue, adding that the kidnappers belonged to a splinter faction of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Lt. General Bajwa told reporters the operation took place at approximately 2 am near the town of Tank, when the kidnappers were transporting Shah, possibly with a view to transferring him to Afghanistan.

Tank, a town in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on the border with the South Waziristan tribal area, is approximately 885 km north of Karachi.

Television footage showed Shah reunited with his family at their Karachi home. Lt. General Bajwa added that weapons and ammunitions were also recovered from the militants, including three AK-47 Kalashnikovs and 500 rounds, six grenades and some drum magazines.

Mr Shah’s father said he did not know which group kidnapped his son.

“I don’t know anything other than that my child has been returned to me,” he said. At the time of his abduction, the police suspected the group involved intended to use him as a bargaining chip in negotiations to free imprisoned Islamist militants.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also congratulated the Sindh high court Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah on the recovery of his son and praised security forces. “The Prime Minister lauded the role of intelligence agencies and security forces in recovering Mr Awais Shah and said that the professional and operational excellence of our security forces has made it possible for which they deserve immense appreciation,” a statement issued by Mr Sharif’s office said. Kidnappings by criminal gangs or militants are common in Pakistan, and particularly in Karachi, a teeming metropolis of 20 million people plagued by political, ethnic and religious violence.