Inspired by Bollywood: Teenager arrested for kidnapping child

He said he got the idea from a Bollywood film.

FAISALABAD:

Jhang Bazaar police claimed on Friday to have recovered a boy who was abducted and to have arrested his kidnapper.

City Police Officer (CPO) Sohail Habib Tajik told to The Express Tribune that three-year-old Shahzaib, son of Muhammad Waheed, had gone missing on September 8. He said the boy was last seen playing in the front lawn of his house.

Tajik said his parents had registered a missing-person complaint when he didn’t return for 24 hours.

He said he had formed a team comprising Lyallpur Town Superintendent Muhammad Elyas Mali, Jhang Bazaar Station House Officer (SHO) Inspector Zafar Iqbal and Sub Inspector Shahid Sarwar to recover the boy and apprehend the kidnappers.

The team rounded up 20 people from Judge Wala and its surroundings.

The CPO said during interrogation, one of them informed them that Shahzaib had been abducted by 19-year-old Faisal Amin, of Sulemania Colony.

Amin’s house was raided and he was detained.

The CPO said Amin confessed to kidnapping the child and took them to a deserted house near Razabad police station.

The CPO said Amin told police that one of his legs was paralysed.

He said he worked at Shahzaib’s uncle’s factory and had quit a month ago.

He told police that he had gotten the idea of kidnapping Shahzaib from a Bollywood film.

“The characters of the film plotted to kidnap the son of a rich man, and so I did the same,” he said.

He said he picked Shahzaib because his parents were rich and could afford to pay ransom.

He said he wanted the money to pay for treatment for his leg. He said he also wanted to provide for his family.

He said he had planned to contact Shahzaib’s parents but he did not have their contact number.

The CPO said the child had been handed over to his parents after he was recovered. He also announced cash prizes and appreciation letters for the police team who found him.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 13^th, 2014.