Ransom victim tells harrowing plight as kidnappers take away life savings.
On December 25, 2024, in Karachi, Pakistan, seven suspects – including an officer from the Counter-Terrorism Department – were arrested on suspicion of participating in the abduction of a cryptocurrency trader and demanding a ransom of $340,000.
While confirming the arrest of one CTD officer, Inspector General of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon said that efforts were still on to nab another police officer involved in the crime.
The victim, 30-year-old Mohammed Arsalan, was abducted from Manghopir, a well-known area in northwest Karachi. According to Arsalan, the kidnappers forced him to transfer $340,000 from his Binance to account for several wallets they controlled before releasing him hours later near Quaid-e-Azam's mausoleum.
Arsalan later shared additional details on Facebook, but independent sources largely did not confirm his claims, including the specific amount transferred and the exact sequence of events. He said $277,000 of the stolen amount was transferred to a special wallet through decentralized exchanges before being transferred off-chain to Binance.
While Arsalan assured the public that law enforcement was actively working to trace the transactions and identify the individuals behind the wallets, experts on the challenges of tracking identify funds through decentralized financial systems, where confidentiality is often a key factor.
Arsalan also posted a screenshot of his post Binance history of withdrawing it Facebookshows several critical movements in various cryptocurrencies, including large amounts in USDT and other tokens, totaling more than $340,000. Although screenshots provide useful evidence, investigators must verify this data to fully verify his account.
The suspects, identified as Mohammed Rizwan Shah, Tariq Hasan Shah alias Amir, Muzamil Raza, Umer Jilani, Umer Irshad, Noman Riffat, and Haris alias Ashar, were caught by the Chile Crime Against Violence . According to a statement by AVCC officials, the team, led by SSP Aneel Haider Minhas, conducted multiple operations across Karachi to nab the suspects.
However, details of the exact timeline for the arrests and the evidence linking each suspect to the crime remain unclear. The AVCC described the arrestees as habitual criminals who had been imprisoned for similar crimes in the past, but no public records or court documents to confirm this characterization were available in the right away
Arsalan's account of his abduction also raises some unanswered questions. Weeks before the incident, he said a man named Hamid had approached him to buy US dollars. Despite Arsalan's refusal, Hamid persisted and eventually arranged a meeting with Arsalan's friend, Zohaib.
On 24 December 2024, three men, including Muzamil and Hammad, visited Arsalan's office and invited him to a restaurant where other suspects were with them. It is not clear why Arsalan agreed to meet with individuals he found suspicious or whether any steps were taken to confirm their identities. Details like this could be crucial in understanding whether this was a premeditated targeting of Arsalan or a fair crime.
Later that night, Arsalan said he was kidnapped by a group of armed men in an unmarked police vehicle. They cut him with clothes and arrested him near Saddar FIA office. There, they allegedly forced him to unlock his Binance account and transfer his money to multiple wallets. After resetting his phone, they released him near a local attraction, called Quaid-e-Azam Mausoleum at 4 a.m. The choice of place to release him and the detailed steps taken are to reset his phone suggests a level of design and technological know-how. – as among the kidnappers.
In an interview with DawnIGP Memon called it an isolated instance of misconduct by individual officers and emphasized that the police force does not condone illegal activities. However, his views have been questioned, given the important role that rogue officers played in the crime. Critics argue that a more transparent internal investigation is needed to restore public confidence in law enforcement.
Arsalan, in Facebook mailhe expressed his devastation at the loss of his hard earned money. He criticized those who accuse him of perpetrating the incident, saying that the DIG was personally supervising the investigation. He also clarified that no investors or relatives were involved in the matter and he vowed to pay back any losses incurred by others. Arsalan promised not to hand over any of the culprits who were responsible for organizing the crime.
While those affected may find some comfort in Arsalan's promises, saying he will recoup losses could raise questions about his financial status after the theft and whether it is necessary further investigation of its business activity.
Furthermore, making such promises could inadvertently distract attention from holding the perpetrators accountable. Serious questions have been raised by what happened regarding the security of cryptocurrency traders in Pakistan as well as the abuse of authority by law authorities.
The wider use of cryptocurrencies leads traders to these types of crimes due to the lack of government control and education about the security of digital assets. According to observers, this case could be a wake-up call for stronger legislative measures and a thorough examination of the protection of Pakistan's legal framework for digital assets.
