Inquiry team says Dua Mangi's kidnappers, police had a shootout three days ago: sources

KARACHI: Dua Nisar Mangi's kidnappers were involved in a shootout with police officers three days ago, an investigation team probing the young woman's kidnapping said Sunday.

Sources said Mangi's kidnappers had fired upon the officers from Aziz Bhatti police station three days ago. The suspects, who were wearing masks at the time, had opened fire on the police vehicle as soon as they saw it.

Police said one suspect and two officers were wounded during the shootout. Shells obtained from the encounter matched those that were obtained from the gun of Mangi's kidnappers that was used to shoot her friend, Haris Soomro.

The investigation team said the car in which the suspects had kidnapped Mangi had been stolen from the jurisdiction of Ferozabad police station. The kidnappers had used a fake number plate on the car.

The inquiry team said Mangi's ransom was paid on Friday and she returned home the same day. The suspects had contacted her relatives through WhatsApp.

Police said the first call for ransom was made on December 1. The investigation team said it was not taken into confidence about the ransom payment.

The investigation team noted that it would record Mangi's statement today (Sunday). Her mother spoke to the media a day after returned home and denied having paid a ransom for her release. Her mother said her daughter had returned unharmed but was severely traumatised.

Dua Nisar Mangi had been kidnapped from Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA) last week by an unknown number of armed individuals. She was abducted from near a restaurant in the Bukhari Commercial area, alternatively known as Bara Bukhari.

At the time of her kidnapping, Mangi had been walking home with her friend, Soomro, who was shot by the abductors and reportedly sustained a gunshot wound in his neck. He was subsequently taken to a private hospital for treatment, where he remains in critical condition.

Police had lodged a first information report (FIR) over the incident, naming at least four unidentified persons.