In a harrowing incident, seven Pakistani suspects, including an officer from the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), have been arrested for allegedly kidnapping a Karachi-based crypto trader and extorting $340,000 in cryptocurrency.
According to a report from Dawn, the trader, Mohammed Arsalan, was abducted on December 25 from the Manghopir neighborhood and held for several hours before being released after transferring the ransom from his Binance account to wallets controlled by the kidnappers.
Inspector General of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon confirmed the arrest of one CTD officer and stated that efforts are ongoing to apprehend another officer implicated in the crime.
Pakistani Crypto Trader Kidnapped: How Was $340K Stolen?
Arsalan, a 30-year-old crypto trader, recounted that his ordeal began when a man named Hamid persistently contacted him to purchase US dollars.
Despite Arsalan’s repeated refusals, Hamid remained in touch, eventually persuading Arsalan’s friend Zohaib to arrange a meeting.
On December 24, three men visited Arsalan’s office in Saima Arabian Villas, posing as potential buyers.
The suspects, later identified as Muzamil and Hammad, accompanied Arsalan to a nearby restaurant, where additional suspects joined them.
In the early hours of December 25, a group of five men in plain clothes arrived in an unmarked police vehicle, forcibly abducting Arsalan.
They gagged him, transported him to a location near the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Saddar office, and coerced him into unlocking his Binance account.
Over the next few hours, $340,000 worth of cryptocurrency was transferred to multiple wallets controlled by the kidnappers.
Arsalan was later released near the Quaid-e-Azam mausoleum at 4 a.m., from where he managed to return home.
The AVCC launched an investigation following Arsalan’s report, leading to the arrest of seven suspects, including Mohammed Rizwan Shah, Tariq Hasan Shah, Muzamil Raza, Umer Jilani, Umer Irshad, Noman Riffat, and Haris alias Ashar.
The suspects were described by police as habitual offenders, previously arrested for similar crimes.
Despite these arrests, authorities are continuing their search for additional accomplices.
Implications for Law Enforcement and Cryptocurrency Security
The involvement of CTD officers in this kidnapping escalated this crime.
According to Dawn’s report, Inspector General Memon mentioned that the officers’ actions were individual acts not reflected in the CTD and that they would not be spared or held with leniency.
“We do not spare anyone.”
However, social media critics, including Arsalan’s Facebook post, argue that this incident points to systemic issues within Pakistan’s policing structures, where much has happened in the past.
Source: Arsalan Malik / FacebookAccording to Memon, this latest case necessitates comprehensive reforms to prevent further breaches of public trust.
Furthermore, Pakistan was criticized for lacking clear legal frameworks governing digital assets, where digital assets operate in a regulatory gray area.
The lack of comprehensive oversight or investor protections leaves traders at risk of exploitation, with few avenues for recourse in cases of theft or fraud.
Notably, a Nov 2024 report shows that Pakistan is preparing to amend the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Act to legalize digital currencies and allow the central bank to oversee physical and digital financial assets.
These amendments will grant the SBP authority to issue and regulate digital currency as legal tender, with plans to develop a subsidiary focused on digital payment systems.
These efforts follow an earlier directive from the Sindh High Court, which ordered the government to create a regulatory framework for crypto assets, following challenges to Pakistan’s restrictive 2018 stance on cryptocurrencies.
Meanwhile, the SBP is also accelerating efforts to launch a digital rupee this year.
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