June 12, 2006	Monday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 15, 1427

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RAWALPINDI, June 11: Police have arrested the accused who allegedly kidnapped a schoolboy from Banni Mohallah for ransom, molested him and later strangled the child in Islamabad.

This was disclosed by District Police Officer Saud Aziz at a press conference held at the Banni police station on Sunday.

This was the 12th high profile case of kidnapping for ransom during last six months in Rawalpindi.

The DPO said the main accused, Khadim Hussain, a cousin of the father of Mudassar Azam (the victim), had confessed to committing the crime and his case would be tried in the speedy trial court.

Mudassar Azam, a class-III student living in Banni, went missing on Thursday some time after Khadim Hussain visited his house.

The father of the missing boy got a telephone call on Thursday night in which the caller demanded Rs10 million ransom, and warned against informing the police, saying it would endanger the child’s life as his “boss” was a cruel person.

The DPO said shortly after the incident was reported to the police, a raiding party, comprising DSP Rana Shahid, DSP Sultan Mehmood Chadhar and SHO Asghar Goraya, was constituted to trace the boy and arrest the culprits.

He said the accused, Khadim Hussain, took the boy on his motorbike towards a Suzuki stand, on the pretext of buying him some sweets and pigeons. Later, he took him towards Sung Jani, where he was joined by his accomplice. There they gave an intoxicated cold drink to Mudassar, and sexually assaulted him till he fainted. Later, the accused strangled the boy and threw his body in a nearby pond and escaped.

The DPO said even after killing the boy, the accused continued contacting his father on cellphone and kept demanding ransom. Khadim Hussain, father of four, had also confessed that he had an accomplice with whom he killed the child. Following his discloser, the other accused has also been captured by the police, the official said.

Speaking at the press conference, Mohammad Azam, father of Mudassar Azam, said he had received two calls from the kidnapper after his son was abducted. Mudassar had one brother and three sisters.

The DPO said the body was spotted floating in the pond by some passers-by, who informed the Tarnol police. The body was shifted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences and Pindi police were also informed.

The official said the victim had been molested and strangled by the accused within one-and-a-half-hour after he was picked up.