KARACHI, Jan 7: An anti-terrorism court sentenced two teenagers to suffer life imprisonment for kidnapping a four-year-old boy for ransom.

Judge Arshad Noor Khan of the ATC-3 also ordered forfeiture of entire movable and immovable property of accused Zahoor, son of Aman, and Bismillah, son of Abdul Baqi, both hailing from the upcountry.

The two accused had demanded Rs1 million for the release of the hostage, Usman Ghani, son of Habibullah, a carpet dealer at Summer Heights on the Shaheed-i-Millat Road.

According to prosecution, Zahoor, an employee at Habibullah’s outlet, kidnapped the boy on Aug 3 and he and his accomplice, Bismillah, took him to the NWFP.

The victim’s father reported the matter to the Ferozabad police on Aug 4 after an exhausted search of his son.

The complainant told the police that on the day of incident his two sons — Usman and Wahab — reached the carpet show-room around 10am. He said he remained busy in the basement of the showroom and about 2:30pm or 3pm he noticed that his son Usman and employee Zahoor were not present there.

He said his 12-year-old son, Wahab, told him that Zahoor had given him Rs20 asking him to bring the cold drinks and when he returned Usman and Zahoor were not present in the showroom.

The police immediately dispatched a party to Charsadda, the hometown of the accused, following the registration of the case (FIR No. 333/2001) by the victim’s father.

The accused were tracked down on Aug 8 when Zahoor phoned the victim’s father, who had the facility of caller’s line identification. The Ferozabad police party with the assistance of the local police arrested Zahoor red-handed when he was making another call to the carpet dealer.

The police arrested accused Bismillah and Zafar and recovered the abductee from an Afghan refugee camp on a lead given by accused Zahoor.

The judge awarded lesser punishment to the accused for the offence of kidnapping for ransom, which otherwise involved death sentence as maximum punishment.

The judge, however, acquitted Zafar in the case as the prosecution could not bring incriminating evidence against him.

The three accused were represented by pauper advocate, Zahid Rohila, at the state expenses.

CORRUPTION REFERENCE: The statement of former federal commerce minister, Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, and former secretary of ministry of commerce, Brig (Rtd) Aslam Hiyat, facing corruption charges, could not be recorded as their counsel did not appear before the court.