Safe return: Abducted boy recovered, culprit arrested

Accused caught while trying to transport child through a check post.

GHALLANAI:

Political administration officials recovered a seven-year-old boy kidnapped earlier and also arrested his alleged abductors, Lower Mohmand Agency Assistant Political Agent Maqsood Hasan told reporters on Saturday.

Hasan said Muhammad Adnan was allegedly kidnapped for ransom from Peshawar on August 1 while he was playing outside his home in Faqeer Kallay.

On Saturday, after receiving an intelligence tip-off, Pandyali Tehsildar Irshad Khan beefed up security on check posts in the area and apprehended the accused Maroof Shah, a resident of Matta Mughal Khel, Charsadda. “The kidnapper was arrested when he was transporting the abducted boy through Targhakhel check post on a bike, as the police and political administration had been informed,” added Hasan.

According to him, three more residents were also arrested on charges of aiding the kidnapper. “Punishment to the accused will be suggested to the political administration through a jirga of tribal elders.”

The boy’s father Wajib Khan, who owns a business in Dubai, said he has no rivalries which could lead to his son’s kidnapping. “Unidentified people called me and said my son has been sold to them for Rs5 million and I have to pay Rs7 million to release him,” he added.

After the incident, he left his business in Dubai and came back to recover his son. “I am very grateful to the political administration, levies and khasadar for helping in getting my son released,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 25^th, 2013.