Four men from Afghanistan, who kidnapped their countrymen and extorted money from their families with violent tortures, were arrested.
to report Criminal siteThe representative of the Afghan Embassy went to Tehran Criminal Prosecutor’s Office in early November of this year and when he sat in front of the investigator Azim Sohrabi in the 9th branch of the Criminal Prosecutor’s Office, he said that he had come to the prosecutor’s office because of one of his country’s nationals who was kidnapped and his family in Afghanistan was worried and wanted to follow up on the matter through the embassy.
Explaining the incident, this diplomat said: “A few days ago, the family of a man named Murad of my compatriots informed the embassy that he had been kidnapped because he came to Iran illegally to work. According to them, the kidnappers demanded 40,000 dollars and by sending photos and videos of Murad’s torture, they pressured his family to pay the money and even threatened to kill him.
The Afghan diplomat also gave videos to the investigator as complaint documents, in one of which they cut off a part of the hostage’s ear with scissors.
Since the family of the abducted man lived in Afghanistan and could not come to Iran, they requested through the embassy to follow up on his fate and take the necessary measures for his release.
By registering the complaint raised by the embassy representative, the investigator Azim Sohrabi handed over the case to the officers of the 11th Police Department and issued an investigation order to investigate this complaint until the officers of the Special Kidnapping Department of the Tehran Intelligence Police came into action. In the preliminary investigation, it was found that the kidnapped man’s family had deposited 4,500 dollars for the advance payment through an exchange for the kidnappers. Investigations indicated that the dollars were withdrawn through an exchange in Türkiye. In this way, the possibility of tracking the accused in this branch of the investigation came to a dead end.
In the continuation of the detectives’ investigation, the hypothesis was strengthened that the kidnappers probably knew the hostage and his family and were sure of their ability to pay, that’s why when the family refused to pay, they used violence and in addition to beating Murad, they also cut off a part of their hostage’s ear in front of the camera to meet their demand of $40,000. With this hypothesis gaining strength, relatives and acquaintances of the abducted man were investigated.
Finally, it was found that there is a young man named Muzaffar among Murad’s relatives, who had a good relationship with the hostages, but the issue that attracted the attention of the research team was the change in Muzaffar’s financial situation. Further investigations showed that a few days after the kidnapping, an amount was deposited into his account and his financial situation has clearly improved. Therefore, the investigation was focused on him, and the police found out that he had been arrested by the Iranian security police a few years ago. The charge that caused his arrest was complicity in the kidnapping of one of his countrymen. The same issue highlighted the possibility of Muzafar’s involvement in this kidnapping case. When Muzafar came under the microscope of the detectives of the 11th Department, it appeared that he was working as a construction worker in Tehran. Therefore, after coordinating with the 9th criminal investigator, the case officer made an appointment with the suspect in the guise of the manager of a large construction project in the north of Tehran, under the pretext that he needs workers for construction work and that one of his colleagues introduced him. But on the very day when the case officer had an appointment with Muzafar, a call was made to that police captain and they informed that his pregnant wife had gone to the hospital to give birth. The police officer who was on a mission, although he was worried about his wife and child, continued the mission he was on because there was a possibility that Muzafar would smell the issue and lose the only clue he had to reach the hostages. Therefore, instead of attending the hospital, the young officer went to the meeting place with Muzafar. In addition, if the suspect did not suspect the matter and while all the evidence confirmed that he was involved in the violent kidnapping, any delay in the arrest could cost the life of the hostage.
In the end, Muzafar was arrested, but in the initial investigation, he made contradictory statements to make himself appear innocent.
At first, he denied the kidnapping, but during the investigation, he made a strange claim and said in short sentences that the hostage himself was involved in the kidnapping, and that was enough to trigger the trap and force him to reveal the whereabouts of Murad and the hiding place of his accomplices.
Upon the accused’s confession, one of the teams of detectives of the 11th Intelligence Police Department immediately went to the place in Khavaran Street and arrested them despite the resistance of the kidnappers. In the following, the hostage man, who was kept in a workshop, bloodied and injured, was released from the captivity and torture of his violent compatriots four days after announcing the complaint and filing the case.
The three arrested suspects, who were confronted with police evidence, confessed to the kidnapping of 40,000 dollars. But investigations showed that the freed hostage was not the only prey of Afghan gang members. In the later stages of the police investigation, the detectives found out from the mobile phones and social networks that the accused had on their phones that several other Afghan men had been kidnapped by this gang. The available documents showed that they were released after receiving the requested amounts. Also, the investigation of their fate indicated that they had gone to the police departments of the cities around Tehran and informed about their abduction by their countrymen. In their statements, which were included in the files, the other victims said that the hostage takers kept them in a workshop and extorted money from their families by releasing the video of the torture of the victims, and in one case they extorted 15 thousand dollars. Currently, due to the method and method of kidnapping the victims and extorting the members of this gang, the investigation is ongoing to uncover the secret of the possible kidnappings of other members of this gang, who are all Afghans.
Also, Muzaffar, as the mastermind and leader of the extortion gang, is accused of planning the kidnapping and hostage-taking of his family and fellow citizens. In subsequent interrogations, when asked how long he had been planning the kidnapping, he said: “I don’t remember the exact date, but it had been two months since we had decided to steal the last hostage.”
According to this report, the investigation is still ongoing.
