12 arrested in connection with Shahbaz Taseer's abduction

At least 12 suspects have been taken into custody in Pakistan in connection with the abduction of 27-year-old son of slain Punjab governor Salman Taseer.

The suspects include the people who recently had met Taseer's assassin Mumtaz Qadri in Adiala Jail Rawalpindi.

The others have been picked up from Defense Housing Authority (DHA), Gulberg and adjoining areas in Lahore.

Taseer was kidnapped by four armed men near his company head-office in Gulberg area on last Friday.

A senior police officer who is part of the investigation told PTI today that the police had taken some of visitors of Qadri who recently had met him in the jail and others picked after getting the record of the cell phone data of Shahbaz Taseer.

The officer said, "We have also quizzed Qadri.

Some progress has been made in the case but it can not be disclosed at this stage because of the sensitivity of the matter."

Lahore Police chief Ahmad Raza Tahir however said the case was "still unresolved" as seven police teams had been working on different leads related to "domestic and business affairs of Shahbaz and his father's assassination".

"Apparently it appears the kidnappers are present in the city as there are no reports that any suspected vehicle has managed to leave the city," he said.

Tahir further said search operations were being conducted in all parts of the city and the police were also getting help from the cell phones records of Shahbaz and the people who got acquaintance with him.

"Taseer family has yet to be contacted by the kidnappers," he responded to a question.