Conman uses ‘abducted’ child to rob shopkeeper

Police hunt for accused who took away LED screen from shop

LAHORE:

A conman left an ‘abducted’ 11-year-old boy at a shop after taking away an LED screen from there in Nishtar Colony.

Police have registered a case against the unidentified swindler.

On July 1, the boy, Musa, left his house for a domestic chore. On the way, the unidentified man lured him to sit on his motorcycle and took him to a shop where electronic items are sold on installments.

The conman took an LED screen from the shopkeeper and told him that he was leaving the child and would return with money.

However, after a lot of time, the suspect did not return. It infuriated the shopkeeper who started beating the boy.

He subjected Musa to severe torture and enquired from him about the whereabouts and contact details of the conman, but to no avail.

After tormenting Musa, the shopkeeper abandoned him at a place away from his shop.

Musa was living with his grandparents after the death of his parents.

The grandmother of the boy said that neither the shopkeeper nor the conman had been identified yet.

“The medical examination of Musa has also been delayed and the suspects have not been identified yet,” she said.

In February last year, an eight-year-old child named Ahmad was subjected to torture by Raiwind police when a conman left him at a mobile phone shop in similar circumstances.

Ahmad was also an orphan. The shopkeeper had reportedly handed him over to the police and suspected that he was a part of a gang of swindlers.

The use of children by conmen is also quite a common practice near Data Darbar, Minar-e-Pakistan and adjacent areas, as per reports.

The vicinity is a hub of homeless poor children and they easily fall into the traps of the conmen.

They lure children for sexual exploitation, drug dealing, intoxicating citizens to loot valuables, pickpocketing and other crimes.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 5^th, 2020.