KARACHI:
Former international hockey team player Islahuddin Siddique has been released after he was reportedly abducted early on Tuesday while going to attend a funeral in Gulistan-e- Jauhar.
I was going to attend the funeral of a friend’s mother in Gulistan-e-Jauhar when the three men captured me, said Siddique while speaking to media after his release. He said that when he stepped outside of his car outside a masjid where he was going to attend a funeral, three suspects cornered him and forced him back into the backseat of his car.
At least two of them brandished weapons and they searched me, the hockey player claimed. He said they stripped off his phone, Rs15,000 in cash, and his wallet and drove him across Karachi roads for more than an hour before they finally dumped him near SafooraChowrangi area of District East.
They pushed me out of my car in some deserted area near SafooraChowrangi and escaped with it, he said. Islahuddin said he approached the police soon after the incident and that the officials visited with him the area where he was cornered.
Islahuddin Siddique (born 10 January 1948), also spelt Islah-ud-Din Siddiqui, is a field hockey player from Pakistan. He was born in Meerut, India.
A right-winger from Pakistan, he led Pakistan to Hockey World Cup glory in 1978. Not only did Pakistan win the World Cup in 1978 under his leadership but it completed a grand slam by winning the Champions Trophy and an Asian Games Gold medal as well in 1978.
Islahuddin Siddiqui played between 1967 and 1978, he was capped 130 times and scored 137 goals. He won the Silver medal in the 1972 Summer Olympics at Munich, W. Germany and a Bronze medal in the 1976 Summer Olympics at Montreal. Islahuddin was a member of the team that won 1971 World Cup under Captaincy of Khalid Mehmood. He was Captain of 1975 World Cup runner-up team and 1978 World Cup Winning team. In 1990 he was manager of Pakistan team that was Runner up in the World cup played in Lahore, Pakistan.
