HYDERABAD, Oct 31: Twenty days after the release of Siraj Sheikh’s two sons, Hyderabad DPO Ali Ahmed Junejo said on Monday it was his team which had mounted pressure on the kidnappers and forced them to free the hostages. He refuted Jamshoro DPO Pir Fareed Jan Sarhandi’s claim of freeing the boys after a swift operation.

Accompanied by Qasimabad TPO Mohammad Ali Baloch, the DPO said at a press conference at his office that a team, including TPO Mohammad Ali Baloch and the SHO of Baldia police station Sikandar Bhatti, arrested Dhani Bux Abro, Majnoo Dahiri and Dayam Dahiri after raids in Kalhoro Colony.

Huzefa and Hamza, sons of Siraj Sheikh who worked for Pak-Saudi Bank, were kidnapped on October 6 and kept in Missan area in Tando Allahyar for two days, he said. Mrs Zareen Shah, wife of Imran Memon, the cousin of children’s mother had a hand in the kidnapping.

The kidnappers later moved them to the residence of Dhani Bux Abro, a leader of Jeay Sindh Students Federation, he said, adding that the kidnappers released the boys due to growing pressure from Hyderabad police.

He said that no ransom had been paid for the release and denied the claim that the boys were recovered from agricultural complex flats on Fatima Jinnah Road. They were sent in a rickshaw in Hala Naka area, he said. However, he added the Jamshoro DPO’s action was within law.

A team of Jamshoro police on Oct 9 arrested four persons after a raid on the civil hospital Hyderabad. Later, Jamshoro DPO Pir Fareed Jan Sarhandi claimed he had found Rs500,000 ransom and the hostages in a flat in agriculture complex on the Fatima Jinnah Road.