An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore has sentenced three people to seven years in prison for their roles in the case of the honey trap and the kidnapping of Ranso that involves the renowned screenwriter Khalil-Ur-Rrehman Qamar.
The Arshad Javed judge, announced the verdict on Monday, after the previous decision of the court to reserve the ruling in the high profile case.
The three convicts: Amina Araooj, Zeeshan Qayyum and Mamnoon Haider, were declared guilty of attracting a private residence under false claims, secretly registering it and orchestrating their rescue kidnapping.
Eight other people appointed in the case, including Hassan Shah, Tanveer Ahmad, Qaisar Abbas, Rasheed Ahmad, Falak Sher, Mian Khan, Yasir Ali and Javed Iqbal, were acquitted due to the lack of evidence.
The case came to light for the first time in July 2023, when he was allegedly kidnapped in Lahore after being invited to Araooj’s apartment under the pretext of discussing a professional project.
According to the reports, he was held for Ransom and released several days later. He filed a police complaint on July 21, which caused an investigation that led to multiple arrests.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the kidnapping was part of a financial motivation scheme, and Qamar’s legal team had urged the Court to impose the death penalty for the guilty.
In a related legal development, a petition that sought to register a case against Qamar was dismissed by a local court in Lahore.
The application was submitted by Zainat Bibi, Mother of Amina Araooj. During the hearing, held before the additional sessions, Judge Ilyas Rehan, Qamar’s lawyer, Mudasir Chaudhry, informed the court that the petitioner intended to withdraw the application to make amendments. The court accepted the request, thus closing the matter at the moment.
Meanwhile, the defense offered a conflicting version of the events. Araooj’s lawyer said that the manager of Qamar had initially approached her with a professional proposal, which later became a staff.
It was alleged that Qamar arrived at a second meeting under the influence of alcohol and pressed Araoooj for a physical relationship, threatening to filter photographs if he refused.
The defense also argued that both Qamar and Arooj were kidnapped by Hasan Shah, who was identified as the alleged intellectual author but then acquitted. Aooj also said she was tortured by the police and forced him to admit that the incident was a honey trap.
