HYDERABAD, Feb 7: Police found the remains of Greesh Kumar, a Hindu engineer kidnapped last year, in an abandoned house in Sachal Sarmast Colony during a pre-dawn raid on Wednesday and arrested seven people including five activists of the proscribed jihadi outfit, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, after an exchange of fire.

The kidnapping took place on August 17 last year when four people, one wearing a police uniform, barged into late Kumar’s flat on the second floor of Ameer Terrace and took him away after tying his younger brother Santosh.

The flat falls within the jurisdiction of Market police station, family sources said. His family initially believed that Kumar had been taken away by the personnel of intelligence agencies.

Kumar’s father Sispal Das lodged an FIR on September 14, 2006, after the family received phone calls from the kidnappers demanding ransom.

Police traced the calls, which led them to a house in Bhittai Colony of Kotri. An exchange of fire took place before police arrested Khadim Hussain Minhas, a retired employee of the T.B. Sanatorium, and his son Shahid. Twenty police mobiles participated in the raid.

Minhas led police to an abandoned house in Sachal Sarmast Colony in union council Khuda Ki Basti where they found the remains of Greesh Kumar. The locality falls in the area of Kotri police station.

The house had two rooms with two courtyards, a kitchen and two bathrooms. Police found a chain which they believed the tormentors had used to chain their hostage, and some posters carrying jihadi messages on the walls.

A few mattresses, beddings and some Urdu newspapers were scattered in the rooms.

Police called a medico-legal officer and a judicial magistrate to examine the remains. Late Kumar’s brother Dr. Amrat, his cousin Suneel Kumar and a relative Dr. Baldev also reached there to see the remains.

Dr. Amrat broke down when he found a piece of trousers and a white coloured undergarment belonging to the deceased. The examination of remains, which included skull, bones, legs and apparently a piece of torso indicated that the hostage had been murdered soon after kidnap. "We want DNA test to be done to determine the identity," said Dr. Amrat.

SP (investigation) Khalid Mustafa Korai confirmed that two persons Khadim Minhas and his son Shahid Minhas were arrested while the gang leader Tahir Minhas managed to flee. "They belong to Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and are owners of the house where the remains were found, and a religious seminary," he said.

Talking to Reuters the SP added: “These men have said they were brainwashed by another militant named Sohail of the same group to target Hindus living in the province.”