Erhan Karaal, deputy general manager of the Istanbul Municipality’s culture and arts subsidiary Kültür A.Ş., was abducted outside of his home in the city’s Maltepe district on the evening of June 17, according to his family and the Anadolu Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.
The prosecutor's office confirmed in a written statement that an investigation had been opened 'upon information that Karaal was abducted by unidentified persons,' adding that instructions had been given to police to locate the victim and apprehend the suspects.
According to his wife Ayşe, Mr. Karaal stepped out of his home around 9 p.m. and was approached near his car by three people who got out of another vehicle, beat him and forced him into their car. Karaal's daughter and a neighbor reportedly witnessed the abduction. His wife went to the police station afterward to report it.
Several Turkish news outlets, including BirGün and Odatv, reported that Karaal is among the 402 defendants in the Istanbul Municipality corruption case and is being tried on bail. Hürriyet daily, however, reported he does not figure in the investigations.
'WE HAVE NO ENEMIES'
Speaking on Halk TV, Karaal's wife described the abduction: the couple had been about to go out for a walk by the shore when two men struck her husband on the head and threw him into the car. She said Karaal shouted 'police, police!' and that four or five people were in the vehicle. One of their daughters was beside him at the time, while the other saw the incident from a window.
She said the family immediately reported the abduction to police, providing the license plate and model of the car used. A matching vehicle was later found, she said, but it had not been driven in the last three days — indicating the abductors had cloned its plate and used a different car altogether.
'We have no rivals or enemies. All his former employers have spoken to his integrity,' she said. She added that his phone had briefly signaled from an open area in Kartal before going dark again. Police, she said, sealed off the surrounding streets after the family's calls for help.
LAWYER POINTS TO TENDER DISPUTES, CITES SECRECY ORDER
Karaal's lawyer, Tayfun Taşlıoğlu, told Gazete Pencere that Karaal had no known enemies or outstanding debts, but said the family believed the abduction could be connected to tender processes involving Kültür A.Ş.
Speaking separately to ANKA, Taşlıoğlu said a confidentiality order had been placed on the investigation and that the family had not been given any information. 'Perhaps the police have obtained some data, some piece of information, or reached some conclusion, and an investigation is proceeding on that basis. But we don't know any of this. We don't yet know why the secrecy order was issued. We haven't received a satisfactory answer on this either,' he said.
New security camera footage has emerged showing the vehicle Karaal was forced into pulling away rapidly from the street outside his home.
