LARKANA, Aug 22: District and Session Judge Bashir Ahmed Khoso taking notice of the detention of 10-year-old Sikandar Ali Abro at Naudero police station on theft charges asked the Civil Judge-I of Ratodero to raid the place of detention, on Friday.

Judge Intsar Hussain conducted raid, searched the police lock up, quarters and mosque. He did not find the boy but traced two other persons, Abdul Jabbar Channa and Nawab Channa kept in illegal confinement in the mosque. The duty officer could not produce documents validating their arrests so the judge let them off.

Police told the judge that complainant Manzoor Jarwar, a shopkeeper had handed over the boy to them who was kept in the lock up hardly for 15 minutes and released him, sources said.

Another source told this scribe that the boy remained in police custody for eight days.

Police sensing action on late Thursday night had handed over the boy to local PPP leader Abdul Razzak Bhutto and took signature of his father, Moharram, on a plain paper, sources said.

The boy who was looking depressed was handed over to his parents, while his father apprehended police could implicate them in a false case.