Punjab police have arrested 9 members of a gang comprising four women and five men who honeytraped playwright Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
Police said all accused were arrested by the Organized Crime Unit Model Town Lahore.
Addressing a press conference along with the playwright, DIG Organized Crime Unit Imran Kishwar said that on the complaint of Khalilur Rehman Qamar, an operation was started by Organized Crime Unit under the guidance of DSP Model Town Ch Faisal Sharif who successfully traced the accused and arrested them.
Imran Kishwar further said the arrested accused comprised Amna Urooj, Mannoon Haider, Zeeshan Qayyum, Javed Iqbal, Tanveer Ahmed, Falak Sher, Qaiser Abbas, Rasheed Ahmed, Mian Khan, Babar Ali, Shamail Bibi and Maryam Shahzali.
He said all accused were being investigated from different aspects.
DIG Imran Kishwar said the accused kidnapped Khalilur Rahman Qamar and kept demanding Rs 1 crore ransom and on refusal, they also tortured the playwright.
The police officer said the accused left Khalilur Rehman at an unknown place near Nankana and escaped from the scene.
DIG said three vehicles, wireless sets, modern rifles, pistols and dozens of bullets were recovered from the accused.
On the occasion, Khalilur Rahman Qamar said he meets everyone without discrimination between men and women. He said the accused demanded a ransom of one crore rupees when he reached their house. He claimed that the accused ordered him that “if he gives money, they will leave him”.
Khalilur Rehman Qamar said the “accused said that you are not afraid of death, I said that I believe in death”.
Police said a few members of the group were arrested in Lahore, the rest from other cities. The girl was in contact with Khalilur Rahman Qamar for 5 to 6 days, police said.
The girl revealed that she came from England and wanted to make a play.
According to the text of the case, Khalilur Rehman Qamar was called by a woman named Amina on July 15 at 12 o'clock in the night.
He told the police that on a telephone call, the woman told him that she was interested in making a drama so his meeting was very important for her. When she insisted on meeting, I asked her to send her location or address, he said.
The woman Amina sent him her location of Bahria Town Lahore where he reached and met her.
Meanwhile, someone knocked on the door on which said there may be a delivery boy. As soon she opened the door, seven armed men entered the home and asked me hands up and started to search my body and took my all credentials including my debit card, ID card, cash and mobile phone.
Then they forced me to give them the password of my phone and after getting the password, they transferred my all mobile data to their phone. After that, they forced me to tell the password of my debit card and then they went out and withdrew an amount of Rs267000 from the ATM of a nearby bank, the writer narrated his story.
He said after getting money they took me to some unknown place in a car where they tortured me and kept demanding extortion of Rs 10 million and also fired at me, but I remained safe. After that, they left me there and fled away.
Reporter: Waqas Ahmad