Abducted minor recovered from Mughalpura

Boy’s uncle had fallen in love with the kidnapper on Facebook

FAISALABAD: Police claimed on Thursday to have recovered a minor who had been abducted by a woman from D-Type Colony 24 days ago. Iqbal Town SP Shehzad Bukhari told newsmen that D-Type Colony police had received a complaint regarding the abduction of five-year-old boy on August 23 from Mandi Mor area. Bukhari said complainant Tabassum Ali, an uncle of the boy, had told police that his sister Saima Shabbir, brother-in-law Zahid Ali and nephew had relocated to Italy a while ago. He said Shabbir and Zahid had later moved back as she wanted to pursue an MBA. The SP said Ali had fallen in love with one Sania on Facebook. He said the complainant had gone to meet her at a godown with Zafar late on August 22.

Bukhari said the woman had abducted the child after managing to deceive Ali.  He said police had immediately used geo-fencing information, Facebook and Whatsapp data to trace Sania’s phone number. “The woman was using a Dubai-based number. This made it difficult to collect her CDR data,” the SP said. Bukhari said a perusal of her Facebook profile had revealed that Sania’s real name was Rabeel and she had been in contact with Zahid. He said police had discovered that Zahid would be arriving in Pakistan on a one-day visit after interrogating a few of his acquaintances. He said his booking details had revealed a number that matched with Sania’s.  The SP said a special police team had nabbed Sania from Lahore’s Mughalpura area and recovered the abducted boy after determining her whereabouts. Bokhari said Zahid had also been arrested from Allama Iqbal International Airport upon arrival.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 18^th,  2015.