JEDDAH, 20 June 2005 — There has been no contact with a Pakistani sales executive since he disappeared six months ago.
Malik Abdul Ghafoor Haji, 53, employed with Salem Ahmad Bugshan, was allegedly kidnapped while he was getting out of his car near his residence on Dec. 5, 2004. Since then nothing has been heard of him.
Three of his daughters confirmed that they received several telephone calls soon after their father’s abduction demanding a ransom for his release. “The caller initially demanded SR65,000 and then in subsequent calls raised the figure to SR500,000,” one of Malik’s daughters said, adding that the kidnappers also demanded that their father’s bank account should be reactivated.
“We told the callers that unless they released him we could not reactivate the bank account. Our father also came on the line and told us to arrange for reactivating the bank account,” the daughter said.
Malik’s sponsor Salem Ahmad Bugshan said he quickly reported the abduction to the Kandara police. “I told the police that Malik had been kidnapped and also gave them information about the clothes he was wearing at the time.”
“Police are in constant contact with Malik’s family members,” he added.
Malik’s three daughters — Zonera, Aqsa and Zainab, all are at school here. His wife and two other children — daughter Mariam and son Fouad — are in Pakistan. Mariam is a medical student and Fouad a commerce student.
Malik has been a resident of Jeddah for the last 25 years. He frequently visited China, Taiwan and Singapore to source leather goods and suitcases for his sponsor’s business.
According to Zonera, their uncle Abdul Sattar had paid 8.04 million Pakistani rupees through the Union Exchange in Karachi on Dec. 17, 2004, seeking the release of Malik.
“Someone called Jamal in Bani Malek received the cash, but still my father has not been released,” she said.
The family has received no word from the kidnappers for five months. The family regrets that they did not seek the help of the media when Malik was kidnapped.
“Some of the callers in the early days sounded like Pathans,” Zonera said, adding that their father interacted with Pathans, Bukharis and Saudis in the course of the business he carried out for his sponsor.
Malik’s mobile phone bill, received soon after his abduction showed that, barring two calls to India, all the other calls were to Afghanistan.
The family said they had no relatives in Afghanistan and India. “We had no enmity with anyone,” Zonera said.
Malik’s wife Shahida has been in touch with the Pakistani Consulate General since the day of abduction and the consulate in turn had written to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Makkah Governorate detailing the case. She also wrote to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf seeking his immediate intervention in the matter.
During her current stay in Pakistan, Shahida received a call from the office of the president inviting her to visit and give the details.
“We love our father and want him back. If something untoward happens to him, where will we go?” the daughter asked.
