A man suspected of kidnapping a 5-year-old boy for ransom has been arrested from Bahawalpur, District Police Officer (DPO) Sohail Habib Tajik said on Tuesday.
Addressing a press conference, Tajik said Rs150,000 ransom had been recovered from the suspect, Muhammad Abdullah, a resident of Lodhran.
He said Muhammad Shahbaz, a resident of Chak 9-BC, was kidnapped on January 19, 2014, from outside his house by two unidentified men.
Following the incident, the district police officer said Shahbaz’s father, Muhammad Hanif, had filed a complaint with Baghdadul Jadeed police.
Tajik said Hanif had told them that the kidnappers had demanded a Rs1 million ransom for the boy’s release. He said the kidnappers later released Shahbaz after Hanif handed over Rs150,000 to them.
He said a police team comprising City police DSP Riaz Bukhari, Civil Lines Station House Officer Ghulam Rasool Bhatti, Baghdadul Jadeed Station House Officer Aamir Ghauri, Sub-Inspector Shabbir Ahmad and ASI Absaar had arrested Abdullah.
He said police was carrying out raids to arrest Habibullah, the other suspect.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 6th, 2014.