Owais Ali Shah reunites with family

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GEO NEWS
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Owais Ali Shah reunites with family

KARACHI/RAWALPINDI: Owais Ali Shah, kidnapped son of Sindh High Court Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah reunited with his family on Tuesday, 29 days after he was kidnapped from a shopping centre in Clifton.

Owais Ali Shah, who appeared to be in good health, was transferred to his residence amid strict security. He appeared briefly in front of the media but did not speak.

His father Sajjad Ali Shah said that he had received a phone call from Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Shareef this morning informing him that his son had been recovered. “I asked him to let me speak to him briefly and he was kind enough to comply my request,” he said.

He thanked the Pakistan Army for recovering his son. He added that when his son was kidnapped the Army Chief called him and said that he will personally monitor the case.

Celebration broke out outside Owais Ali Shah’s residence with some people distributing sweets in the neighbourhood.

Recovered in an operation at Tank

DG ISPR Gen Asim Bajwa in a tweet said that Owais had been recovered from Tank, an area near South Waziristan where Pakistan's security forces have battled local and foreign militants.

During a press conference held later during the day DG ISPR General Asim Bajwa said, Owais Ali Shah was found hidden inside a Burqa, his feet chained and his mouth fastened by tape.

Giving details of the operation he said that three check posts were established at Mufti Mehmood Chowk near Tank. When security forces tried to stop the car carrying Owais Shah the driver tried to run over the divider and move to the opposite lane. Security forces aimed at the driver and killed him. Two other terrorists in the car were also killed.

The DG ISPR said that inside the car a woman clad in a 'shuttlecock burqa' was present. When security forces asked her who she was she did not respond. Her burqa was removed, and inside Owais Ali Shah was found, his mouth taped, his feet chained.

He was taken to the army quarters where his chain was cut. A private aircraft later took him to his residence in Karachi.

The DG ISPR added that ISI monitored the entire operation which took place at 2:00 am in the morning.

He said that the some demands had been made by the terrorists but they were not being disclosed for "operational reasons".

Weapons including three AK-47, six grenades, magazine and bullets were recovered from the terrorists, he said.

Not the first high profile kidnapping

Owais Ali Shah was kidnapped from a super market in Clifton on June 21 by men in plainclothes.

The country has seen high profile kidnapping of Shahbaz Taseer, son of former Punjab governor late Salman Taseer, and Ali Haider Gilani, son of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani before the abduction of Awais Shah over the last fiver years.

Taseer was held in captivity for four and a half years before being recovered from Kuchlak, Balochistan in March this year, while Gilani was recovered after three years during an operation jointly carried out by US and Afghan forces in Ghazni district of Afghanistan in May.

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