Rawalpindi:
In an emotional reunion, a mentally challenged former police officer, missing since 2016, was found begging by his mother at Rawalpindi's Tahli Mohri Chowk on Tuesday, Dawn reported.
Shaheen Akhtar recognized her son and amid emotional scenes, they were reunited after seven years.
Following the discovery, police arrested four members of the beggar gang, including three women, and launched investigations to locate their accomplices, as reported by Dawn.
Mustakeem Khalid, the missing man, was subjected to torture and injections by the beggar gang during his captivity, according to his mother. Mustakeem, a former police officer who suffered from a mental disorder, had disappeared in 2016 due to typhoid fever.
His mother, Shaheen Akhtar, had earlier filed a missing persons report with the Civil Lines police, explaining that her mentally challenged son often left home due to depression. Despite villagers usually bringing him back, Mustakeem did not return after his departure in 2016.
The reunion took place when Shaheen Akhtar, unaware of her son's whereabouts, saw him pleading with a gang at Tahli Mohri Chowk. The gang, consisting of three women and two men, forced Mustakeem to beg, exploiting his disability.
When Shaheen Akhtar recognized her son, he hugged him, but the gang members accompanying him started attacking and abusing her. The FIR filing stated that Mustakeem Khalid was kidnapped by the gang and was unable to beg.
A police spokesman reported the arrest of gang leader Wahid, along with three women, while efforts were underway to arrest the remaining perpetrators. Wahid, the real brother of detained members Maryam and Sabina, was later arrested. Other gang members continued to be captured, Dawn reported.
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