RAWALPINDI: The family of Rawalpindi-based businessman Talha Khan, who was released after the payment of Rs70 million in ransom, has expressed distrust in the Rawalpindi police even though the latter claim they are closing in on culprits involved in the abduction from Rawat. Police said they would not shelve the case for its ‘high-profile’ status and believed that the amount used to pay the kidnappers was obtained through ‘illicit’ means. According to a senior official, the police will not stop the investigation despite the lack of interest expressed by the complainant as they are ‘real close’ to apprehending the criminals as well as uncovering their motives. “It was not only a kidnapping for ransom case; we have been investigating this high-profile criminal case from all aspects and it cannot be closed until the people involved in it are brought to justice,” the official said. The police said the complainants stopped cooperating after the businessman returned following the ransom payment. Mohammad Khan, elder son of Talha Khan, questioned the efficiency of the police. “My father remained in confinement for 33 days and the police could not do anything. We paid off kidnappers to bring him home and later informed the police that we are not interested in pursuing this case,” he said. Police suspicious about source of ransom money; victims say not interested in police investigation Mr Khan said the police could not do anything in 33 days and they did not have high hopes this time either. “We will pursue the kidnappers ourselves and settle the score,” he added. On the other hand, Shahzad Khan, the younger son of Talha Khan, told Dawn that his father did not want to proceed because the kidnappers were more powerful than their family. When Shahzad Khan was contacted, he confirmed that his father had been released after one month of captivity somewhere near Taxila. “We have closed this case and have no idea about the kidnappers,” Shahzad Khan said. On the other hand, officials investigating the case revealed that they had managed to trace the location of the missing person to Chakwal but the kidnappers switched to internet-based communication to contact the family of the businessman instead of mobile phones to evade the law enforcers. Once they contacted the family to get a prescription for Talha Khan’s medicines, which were later purchased from a pharmacy in Chakwal. Following the information, the police thoroughly checked pharmacies in the area but could not trace the individual who purchased those medicines. Since the victim was in captivity, the police were moving very carefully. Once the police negotiated with the family but later they avoided cooperating with the police, claimed the senior police official. Talha Khan had been abducted from Rawat. Initially, the police said the businessman was released from confinement with the help of a ‘jirga’ but the culprits were still to be arrested. When the abductors’ demands were not fulfilled over the next few days, Shahzad Khan’s house was attacked by some unidentified persons on August 25 as he believed that the attack was part of the planning of kidnappers to terrorise them.