January 12, 2002	Saturday	Shawwal 27, 1422

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KARACHI, Jan 11: A Chinese and his eight-year-old son were kidnapped in Clifton and taken to Multan where a deal was struck; they were released on Friday, the police said.

Police claimed that Khalid Jamil, a Multan-based businessman, had masterminded the plan to kidnap the Chinese businessman Wang and his son Zhefuand.

Khalid took Wang and his son on the pretext of showing some cotton products for making a business deal. When they reached near Embassy Hotel in the Frere police limits, three persons kidnapped the occupants of the car (Khalid Jamil, Wang and his son) and took them to Multan where a deal was struck for ransom. Khalid informed his wife about the incident over phone.

A senior police official said investigation showed that Khalid Jamil had masterminded the kidnapping. Police were informed by Ms Zhang Hong, Wang’s wife, that her husband and son were kidnapped while they were going somewhere with Khalid.

Police said as Mr Wang returned home with his son, they were questioned by police and Khalid was taken into custody. Police interrogated Khalid who confessed to having masterminded the kidnapping.

Police said Khalid was a cotton exporter and sent shipments to China. Ms Zhang Hong had given Khalid a post- dated cheque of 59,000 US dollars. Khalid, who had sent sub- standard goods, feared that the cheque would not be encased, so he masterminded the kidnapping to recover the amount. He told Wang that he had given the kidnappers Rs3 million and asked him to give him another cheque.