Kidnap for ransom: Eight-year-old abducted four days ago found killed

Kidnappers had demanded Rs5million ransom.

BAHAWALPUR:

The body of an eight-year-old boy abducted four days ago was found lying in a sugarcane field on Friday.

Police said some passers-by had seen the body and informed the police and the boy’s family.

They said the boy, a resident of Khan Bela, had been kidnapped on December 2 on his way from school.

They said the boy’s father, Ghulam Soomro, who worked in Saudi Arabia, had returned home on Thursday night after being informed about the kidnapping.

Soomro said his family had received a call from an unidentified man who had demanded that he be given Rs5 million ransom. He said as soon as his father told him about the incident, he flew back to Pakistan.

He said on Friday, they were informed that the boy’s body had been recovered from a field. He said the kidnappers had burnt the body and it was in a bad condition.

Police said the body was sent for a post-mortem examination. He said the autopsy report revealed that the boy had been strangled to death. The kidnappers had then poured acid on the face for it to be difficult to identify the boy. They said the family had recognized the boy from his school uniform.

Taking notice of the incident, Rahim Yar Khan District Police Officer Sohail Zafar Chattha directed the Shidani Sharif station house officer to arrest the criminals immediately.

Scores of residents, traders and rights activists in Bela Khan staged a peaceful demonstration to condemn the incident. They demanded that the criminals be arrested immediately. Markets remained closed throughout the city.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 7^th, 2013.