Pakistani film producer and distributor Satish Anand who also happens to be an uncle of Bollywood actress Juhi Chawla, was freed by his Pakistani abductors after six months in captivity. According to media reports the ransom amount was Rs.10.6 million. He’s said to have been shifted to Islamabad.
Anand, who had served as Pakistan’s censor board chairman, was kidnapped Oct 20 last year by two unidentified gunmen while he was on his way home.
According to The News, law enforcement agencies traced the kidnappers to Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and engaged in a negotiation for his release. They reportedly belong to a faction of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-i-Islami (HuJI), in NWFP’s Bannu region, the report said. The HuJI group is reportedly headed by Ilyas Kashmiri, had earlier demanded a huge ransom for releasing Anand. However they later settled for Rs.10.6 million.
On Saturday, officials posing as family members of the film producer delivered the ransom money to the kidnappers. After safely securing Anand, the officials launched a crackdown on the group and arrested five suspects.
