Police Officers Accused of Kidnapping and Robbing Cryptocurrency Trader for $340,000

A crypto trader was temporarily abducted by individuals posing as law enforcement officers, who then robbed him of a substantial sum of money. This incident took place in the jurisdiction of the Manghopir police on December 25.

The victim, Arsalan, resides in Sector 5A4 of North Karachi. According to reports, five plain-clothed men drove up to his residence at Saima Arabian Villas in a disguised police vehicle at approximately 1:30 am.

Arsalan was taken to the vicinity of the Saddar Passport Office, where his kidnappers obscured his vision, illegitimately transferred $340,000 (roughly Rs90 million) from his crypto wallet into their own, reset his mobile phone to default settings, and even took Rs8,000 from his person before leaving him near the Mazar-e-Quaid around 4 am.

A formal complaint filed with the Manghopir police includes Arsalan’s identification of the assailants: Muzammil, Hammad, Asher, and Zaman—whom he noted had made prior attempts to purchase dollars from him, only to be rejected as he specified he did not trade in foreign currency.

Furthermore, video evidence has emerged, displaying a police vehicle’s entry into the gated community, lending credibility to Arsalan’s narrative. Police insiders acknowledge the discovery of indications that law enforcement may be implicated in the offense, including the attribution of a police vehicle employed in the abduction and a route chart laying out the suspects’ traced positions across different areas.

The Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) is actively probing the potential complicity of police agents in this alarming act.

Arrests Made

On the night of Friday, the AVCC revealed that they had apprehended seven individuals connected to Arsalan’s kidnapping, one of whom is a police officer.

Those in custody are Haris Ashar, Muhammad Rizwan Shah, Tariq Hassan Shah (also known as Aamir), Muzammil Raza, Umar Jilani, Umar, and Noman Rifat. According to police declarations, the Counter Terrorism Department’s personnel are also implicated, and the police vehicle involved is alleged to be assigned to the CTD.