Hefty ransom secures freedom of UK boy abducted in Pakistan

[jha]

JHELUM: A British boy kidnapped 12 days ago while on vacation in Pakistan was freed unharmed by his abductors on Tuesday, police said, ending a high-profile ordeal.

"We are very happy. Thank God he is safe and sound," said Raja Basharat, the grand-uncle of five-year-old Sahil Saeed.

Pakistan will hand the boy over to the British embassy, Aslam Tarin, regional police chief, said. Tarin said Sahil was "playing with the police".

Gunmen held several of Sahil's family members at gunpoint for several hours and took away $1,750 and some gold during the kidnapping. The kidnappers later demanded a $118,000 ransom.

Provincial law minister Rana Sanaullah said an "international gang of kidnappers" was responsible. He claimed Sahil was freed after a ransom was paid in a third country.

Hefty ransom secures freedom of UK boy abducted in Pakistan - Pakistan - World - The Times of India

 

[KeenGuy]

I wish somebody would try to kidnap me.....

 

[Ahmad]

it doesnt say how much was paid to the kidnappers?

 

[Ghareeb_Da_Baal]

it doesnt say how much was paid to the kidnappers?

80k pound sterling.

 

[araz]

I wish somebody would try to kidnap me.....

They managed to kidnap poor Ashraf Tai of the tai bando Karate club in the 90s.He tried to resist and had his arm broken.The point is , there is very little defence agains t a gun pointed at your head and a moron willing to pull the trigger.
Araz

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

Kidnapers should be killed in public

 

[Ahmad]

80k pound sterling.

oh man. i am glad that his poor son is back with them. but trust me he wont make that money in his life time in the UK. i am sure the father and family of this boy will never ever go back to pakistan. shame on these gangs that give a bad name to the country.

 

[s90]

BBC : Spanish police arrest two Pakistani men and one Romanian woman over Sahil Saeed kidnap

 

[s90]

Three arrests over Sahil Saeed kidnap and ransom demand

Spanish police have arrested two Pakistani men and a Romanian woman in connection with the ransom demanded for kidnapped British boy Sahil Saeed.

Sahil, five, from Oldham, was taken from his grandmother's house in Jhelum on 3 March, then freed 13 days later.

The BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Madrid said officers in Constanti, Catalonia, had confirmed the arrests, but said the investigation was still open.

Sahil's return is being organised by the UK High Commission in Pakistan.

He was taken when robbers broke into the house while he and his father were on holiday in the Punjab region to visit relatives.

Up to 10 family members inside the house were said to have been beaten by the intruders during a six-hour ordeal. The robbers then took items believed to be jewellery and money and fled with the boy.

The gang had apparently demanded a £100,000 ransom for Sahil's return, but his family had said there was "no way" they could afford any such payment.

BBC News - Three arrests over Sahil Saeed kidnap and ransom demand

 

[Ahmad]

Three people have been arrested in Spain over the kidnapping of Sahil Saeed in Pakistan. They are suspected of being linked to the transfer of ransom money.

Two Pakistanis and a Romanian woman were arrested on Monday in the town of Constantí, near the north-eastern city of Tarragona, said the Diari de Tarragona newspaper.

All three would appear before a judge , an official from the superior court of Catalonia told the Press Association.


British kidnap boy found safe in Pakistan
Link to this audio Sources close to the investigation told El País that Spanish police had co-ordinated their work with counterparts in Britain and Pakistan.

Sahil, aged five, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, was found by locals wandering alone and apparently unharmed in a field . Twelve days earlier he was snatched by gunmen while on holiday in Punjab with his father, Raja Naqqash Saeed.

Saeed was taken as he and his father prepared to leave for the airport to fly home after a holiday with relatives in Jhelum. His father said the kidnappers had demanded £100,000.

Diari de Tarragona quoted neighbours as saying police had discovered a large sum of money in the flat where the arrests were carried out. The same neighbours claimed to have overheard police saying they had recovered most of the ransom cash.

"We can't confirm or deny the news," said a police spokesman in nearby Barcelona.

Diari de Tarragona said three people were believed to have travelled to an unnamed city in Europe to pick up the ransom money.

Rana Sanaullah, the Punjab law minister, had said he believed a ransom demand of £100,000 was paid by Sahil's father and told a local TV station the money had been paid "not in Britain but in another country".

"We are trying to bust this gang with the help of other countries," Sanaullah said.

Sahil's return to Britain is being organised by the British high commission in Islamabad. His mother, Akila Naqqash, 31, has spoken to him by telephone.

After his rescue Sahil was taken back to Jhelum for a brief hearing before a magistrates court, a legal procedure that is necessary in kidnapping cases.

Sahil told the court he was kept in a village and looked after by a woman throughout, according to court sources. He said the kidnappers took him horseriding and for rides on a donkey cart. He was given a little cycle to play on and a toy gun.

He was accompanied to the court by British officials and his uncle, Rizwan, for the 11-minute hearing. He was then driven back to Islamabad, about 90 minutes away, where he is staying under British protection with his grandmother Tasneem and uncle Rizwan. His father is expected to arrive in Islamabad tomorrow.

Sahil Saeed: Three arrested in Spain over kidnap | World news | guardian.co.uk

 

[Spring Onion]

Good development as arrest have been made and the kidnapping plan seems to be formulated in details.

 

[Ahmad]

Ransom paid in Paris for British boy taken in Pakistan: ministry

1 hour 9 mins ago
AFP

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A ransom for a five-year-old British boy kidnapped in Pakistan and freed this week was paid in Paris, Spain's interior ministry said Wednesday, adding five people have been detained. Skip related content
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A ransom was paid for kidnapped boy Sahil Saeed Enlarge photo

Authorities detained three people in Spain and two in France, the ministry said in a statement, which came a day after the boy was recovered in good condition after being left in a field in Pakistan.

Two of those arrested in Spain, in Tarragona in the northeast, are suspected of having gone to Paris to seek the ransom for the boy, the statement said.

Authorities arrested the man and the woman "once the little boy's release was confirmed," it said.

Two others suspected of collaborating with them were arrested in Paris, according to the statement.

The online edition of regional daily Diari de Tarragona said two Pakistani men and a Romanian woman were detained at their home in the town of Constanti near Tarragona.

Spanish police found a large quantity of money at the suspects' flat, it reported.

Police in Pakistan said the kidnappers had dropped off the child in a field on Tuesday, allowing officers to recover him, but no arrests were made.

Doctors confirmed the boy was in good condition, saying he was under police protection and accompanied by British officials.

Sahil Saeed was taken from his grandmother's house in the town of Jhelum, about 100 kilometres south of Islamabad, in the early hours of March 4 while preparing to leave with his Pakistani father to fly back to Britain.

Saeed's father had said the kidnappers stormed the house armed with guns and grenades, subjecting the family to a six-hour ordeal while he and his son were preparing to take a taxi to the airport and fly home.

Relatives said the boy was taken by robbers who stole jewellery and cash and demanded a 120,000-dollar ransom.

Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik reiterated Tuesday that the family could have been behind the abduction but police said there was no evidence that relatives had been involved.

"Presently, we don't know about the suspects or culprits," Aslam Tareen, regional police chief, told reporters.

"He was released to us. We were informed about the whereabouts and he was left there... in a field in Denga village," he said.

Saeed's mother, Akila Naqqash, has dismissed the claims of family involvement in the affair as "a lot of rubbish" and said she was planning a big party for when he returns home to Oldham in northern England.

"Me and my husband are still together happily married after seven years. I have had had no contact with him. Hopefully he will be bringing back my little boy, but we don't know where he is," she said.

Kidnappings of Westerners are rare in Pakistan but abductions of locals are common.

They are often related to family quarrels, love affairs, property disputes or simple quests for money -- particularly for the wealthier victims -- by criminal gangs, some of whom are connected to Islamist militant networks.