KARACHI: A six-year-old boy who was kidnapped almost a week ago from Saeedabad was found dead in Gulistan-i-Jauhar on Tuesday, police said.

They said the victim identified as Mohammad Shahid Ali went missing from Saeedabad on Jan 6 and the parents later approached the area police after failing to find him on their own.

“The police conducted thorough search but failed to find any clue of the boy raising suspicions of his kidnapping,” said an official at the Saeedabad police station. “The initial findings suggested involvement of three men in the kidnapping. The police made efforts for their arrest and finally succeeded to catch two key suspects Salman and Abdul Sattar, who kidnapped the boy with the assistance of his neighbour Shamshair for ransom.”

He said the suspects were also area residents and admitted to have kidnapped the boy with the assistance of Shamshair, who was still at large. The suspects revealed that the boy was strangulated to death after he recognised them.

“The suspects led the police to the area in Gulistan-i-Jauhar where the boy’s body was found in a manhole,” said the official. “The body has been moved to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for medico-legal formalities. Efforts are on for the arrest of the other suspect. The kidnappers had demanded Rs7m as ransom for the release of the boy,” he added.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2021