Pakistani police rescue dozens of chained students from religious school

Pakistani police rescue dozens of chained students from religious school

2011-12-14 07:54:48 GMT+7 (ICT)

KARACHI (BNO NEWS) -- Pakistani police rescued more than 40 people from a religious school in the port city of Karachi on Tuesday after they were found to be held as prisoners and subjected to torture, local media reported.

At least 45 students, aged between 12 and 50 years, were kept chained-up in the basement of the facility in Gadap Town, which is located in the northwestern part of the city. Other media reports said as many as 60 people were freed during the raid.

"Those recovered are aged between 12 and 50 years and are mainly of Pakhtun ethnicity," Gadap Town police superintendent Rao Anwar told The Express Tribune. "A few drug addicts and mentally challenged persons were also among those who were recovered."

Police officials said the students were subjected to torture by the administration of the seminary. "It seems that the administration was running a sort of religious school-cum-rehabilitation-center and were receiving considerable sums of money from parents of those kept in for that purpose," Anwar said.

Officials told local media organizations that the administrator of the seminary, who was identified as Mufti Dawood, fled during the raid. However, his subordinate Qari Muhammad Usman and two watchmen were taken into custody.

An investigation is underway.

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