Man allegedly fakes son's kidnapping

Police recover four-year-old boy from Jhang, arrest adoptive father, his friend

FAISALABAD:

Police claimed to have uncovered a case in which a man allegedly kidnapped his own adopted son with the help of a friend and the friend's wife in a bid to implicate his estranged wife in the crime.

Khurrianwala police recovered the four-year-old boy, Muhammad Ahmed, from Jhang and arrested three suspects, including the child's adoptive father Javed Iqbal, his friend Muhammad Sharif and Sharif's wife, Asia Bibi.

A police spokesperson said Javed Iqbal, a resident of Chak 210-RB Lakhwana, had lodged an FIR claiming that his adopted son had been abducted by unidentified persons while playing outside his house.Following the report, senior police officers, including the SP Jaranwala and DSP Khurrianwala, visited the scene and launched a search operation.

A case under Section 363 of the Pakistan Penal Code was registered against unknown suspects.

However, during the investigation, police found the matter suspicious.

SHO Khurrianwala Inspector Riaz Ahmed Uthwal questioned Javed Iqbal, who initially failed to provide satisfactory answers.

During further interrogation, he confessed to staging the kidnapping.

Police said Javed disclosed that he had married Sahib Bibi, a resident of Mohalla Noor Pur, about 12 years ago but the couple had no children. He had taken Muhammad Ahmed from his brother Imran Ali and raised him as his own.

Due to frequent domestic disputes, his wife had left the house three months earlier and filed cases for dissolution of marriage and maintenance in court.

To pressure and implicate his wife, Javed allegedly conspired with his friend Muhammad Sharif and Asia Bibi to fake the kidnapping of the child.

He admitted taking an oath from his friend at the shrine of Makhkan Shah to keep the plan secret and to support him throughout the case.

The plan also included later reaching a compromise with his in-laws and sharing any settlement money with his accomplice.

On January 9, Javed took the child from his home to Makwana and later sent him to Jhang with Muhammad Sharif and Asia Bibi, before blaming his wife for the abduction.

Acting on the confession, Khurrianwala police raided the Mochiwala area of Jhang, recovered the child safely and arrested Muhammad Sharif and Asia Bibi.