Police thwart Hindu kidnapping attempt

Police manage to foil a kidnapping attempt when they arrest a rickshaw driver and find a small boy with him.

SUKKUR: The police managed to foil a kidnapping attempt on Saturday when they arrested a rickshaw driver and found a small boy with him.

Class six student Sahil, 12, son of Sunil Kumar, came out Falcon Public School at DCO Chowk on Saturday and signaled to a rickshaw to stop. The boy asked the rickshaw driver, Niaz Mastoi, to take him home at Quaid-e-Azam Road but instead of going to Sahil’s house, Mastoi sped off towards the bypass in Saddar. From there, Mastoi whisked the boy out of the rickshaw at gunpoint and was trying to take him away when a police mobile unit appeared on the scene and the boy started shouting for help.

The police rushed to help and arrested Mastoi.

DSP Jacobabad Ehsan Buledi told The Express Tribune on the phone that his team was on routine patrol when they heard the boy shouting. They have registered a case the rickshaw driver at Saddar police station. Sahil has been reunited with his family. An investigation is underway, added Buledi.

Meanwhile, incidents of kidnapping of Hindu children have been reported earlier in the year, the more recent being the disappearances of three boys from Kashmore in September and October.

As these kidnappings continue, Hindu families living in interior Sindh have started planning to move to other cities out of fear for their children’s safety.

Residents have also complained that the Hindu MNAs and MPAs have also failed to protect their community.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 31^st, 2010.