Child recovered: Police arrest four kidnappers

Police says main suspect frequently visited the victim’s house, had learnt the law enforcers were about to trace them

LAHORE: Police have arrested four suspects allegedly involved in the kidnapping of a six-year-old boy from Iqbal Town on October 17, announced SP Shaista Nadeem at a press conference at her office on Saturday.

The victim, Muhammad Ali Zakir, was abducted in Iqbal Town’s Khyber Block when he was returning home from school in a rickshaw. The suspects blindfolded the boy with a scarf, bundled him into a jeep and fled. While leaving, they also snatched the cellphone of the rickshaw driver.

The SP said police started investigations after collecting forensic evidence from the scene including the CCTV footage from cameras installed nearby. Police tracked the location of the suspects through the cellphone of the rickshaw driver and arrested them. A gun and the jeep used in the crime were also seized.

The prime suspect was identified as Ammar while his accomplices were named Jaffar Ali alias Sabar, Muhammad Shahid and Ayesha Shahid. Another accomplice Imran alias Mani is on the run.

Police said the main suspect frequently visited the victim’s house and had learnt the law enforcers were about to trace them. The kidnappers themselves abandoned the child in a park in Samanabad and called the victim’s family.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2016.