RAWALPINDI, Oct 7: The local police have recovered a 10-year-old boy, who was kidnapped from outside his house in Westridge last Friday for Rs70 million ransom, City Police Officer Saud Aziz said on Sunday.

Speaking at a press conference, Mr Aziz said the two kidnappers, one of whom was an employee of a defence institution, had also been taken into custody. They were identified as Sikandar Hayat and Zaheer Hussain.

The CPO told the reporters that Muzamil Mumtaz, son of Mohammad Mumtaz, was playing outside his house (British Homes) Friday night when two motorcycle riders kidnapped him.

Shortly after the boy went missing, the child’s parents and relatives launched a house-to-house search but failed to find him.

The police officer said sometime later the parents received a telephone call in which the kidnapper told them that Muzamil was in his custody and ordered them to arrange a huge sum for the boy’s safe release.

The kidnapper disconnected the call but after sometime he again contacted the boy’s parents and allowed them to talk to the minor.

Mr Aziz said the boy’s father was in a shock and he could not talk to him on telephone. However, the missing boy’s uncle had a conversation with the kidnappers during which they demanded the ransom and also gave a deadline. The caller also threatened to kill the boy if the money was not arranged.

The CPO said a police party led by SSP operation Farooq Yasin and DSP Rana Shahid was formed to track down the kidnappers and recover the boy.

Negotiations between the kidnappers and the boy’s father continued but the accused were continuously insisting that the boy’s father must arrange Rs50 million.

Mr Aziz said the kidnappers were finally trapped on Sunday at dawn when they directed the parents to drop a bag containing the ransom money at a specific place in Naseerabad. They said the boy would be released later.

He said after continued surveillance, the police party captured the kidnappers when one of them riding a motorcycle came to Naseerabad to collect the cash.