SARGODHA - Farhat Abbas - Unknown armed persons kidnapped PML-N Member Punjab Assembly Rana Hassan Jamil and his wife from Motorway at Pindi Bhattian Interchange in Sargodha district in the wee hours of Saturday.
According to his brother Rana Wakeel Hassan, MPA Rana Jamil of constituency PP-174 (Nankana Sahib) along with his wife Zeba was away to attend the funeral of a close relative and was on his way back to Islamabad when four unidentified armed kidnappers took them away near Sial roundabout.
However, they freed Jamil's wife in Rawalpindi with a message to arrange Rs50 million ransom, telling her that they would contact later. Taking notice of the incident, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has sought report from Inspector General of Punjab Police on the kidnapping.
Police have registered FIR against unknown kidnapers on the statement of Station House Officer (SHO) Muhammad Waqas of Laksian police station of Sargodha under Sections of 365/A and 7ATA. Police high ups also formed four investigation and raiding teams and started interrogation. The MPA was travelling on his white Corolla, Model 2006, bearing registration number 789/YJ.
"The kidnappers followed him in a car and took him away leaving his wife behind at Rawalpindi and asked her to arrange about 300,000 dollars (ransom money) in three days," the lawmaker's brother Rana Wakeel Hassan told AFP.
A family source quoted the wife of the kidnapped MP as saying that when kidnappers followed them her husband sped away, but the abductors rammed their car to stop them.
She said that the armed men, who spoke Pashto language, had blindfolded the pair, before dropping her near Rawalpindi.