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| India-Pakistan |
| Pakistani extortionists cash in by posing as Taliban |
| 2013-11-18 |
| [Pak Daily Times] It began innocuously enough -- two men on a cycle of violence delivered a plain brown envelope to the home of Mohammed, an Islamabad businessman. But the contents plunged him into a terrifying three-month nightmare. The letter, headed with the banner of the Pak Taliban, informed Mohammed that a Taliban judge had found him guilty of not living by Islamic principles. It said Mohammed -- not his real name -- had been fined five million rupees ($50,000) and threatened dire consequences if he went to the police or failed to pay up. "Our squad of jacket wallahs is always prepared to send non-believers to hell, God willing," the letter seen by AFP read. At the bottom, the name of feared Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) chief Hakimullah Mehsud was written in bold followed by a signature that resembled his name. Mohammed had no way of knowing it, but the signature was fake. He had been snared by criminals exploiting the terrifying reputation of the Pak Taliban to extort money from rich businessmen in Islamabad and its twin city Rawalpindi. The Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce says its members regularly receive extortion demands of up to $100,000, and last month a property dealer in the city who refused to pay a demand found explosives hanging from the door of his office. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Mohammed had no way of knowing it, but the signature was fake. He had been snared by criminals exploiting the terrifying reputation of the Pak Taliban to extort money from rich businessmen in Islamabad and its twin city Rawalpindi. The Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce says its members regularly receive extortion demands of up to $100,000, and last month a property dealer in the city who refused to pay a demand found explosives hanging from the door of his office. So one group is a bunch of criminal extortionists who are pretending to be the Taliban, while the other group is a bunch of criminal extortionists who really are the Taliban. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2013-11-18 14:09 |