KARACHI, Jan 12: Two young men were arrested on Monday for kidnapping and killing their five-year-old cousin in New Karachi.

The Bilal Colony police said Ahmed Raza, 20, and Amir, 23, were arrested red-handed near Allahwali Chowrangi when they were on their way to dispose of the body of Zohaib, son of Imran Ali.

The SP of New Karachi, Dr Mohammed Farooq, told Dawn that suspect Ahmed Raza was a paternal cousin of the victim, while suspect Amir was a maternal cousin.

He said the two suspects with their two accomplices kidnapped the victim at around 4pm on Sunday near his home in Sector 5-D for ransom.

The SP said the kidnappers called the victim’s father, a cotton waste contractor, at around 2am on Monday and demanded Rs500,000 for his son’s release. He said the accomplices of the victim’s cousin strangled the boy and asked suspect Ahmed Raza to dispose of the body.

Dr Farooq said the victim’s family had reported the disappearance of the boy at 8pm on Sunday to the Bilal Colony police.

He said suspect Ahmed Raza was an ambulance driver of the Ahle Sadaat Hospital in Sector 5B-3 in the limits of the Khwaja Ajmair Nagri police. “The suspect continued to search for the missing boy with the family,” he added.

He said Ahmed Raza picked suspect Amir in the morning from his home in his ambulance and reached Allahwali Chowrangi where their two accomplices on a motorcycle also reached along with the victim’s body, stuffed in a gunny bag.

The SP said Amir had an altercation with Ahmed Raza when he found the boy dead. “While they were still arguing with each other, a police party arrived there and seized the body,” he added.

The body was later taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for a postmortem. Sources at the hospital’s medico-legal section told Dawn that the small boy had been strangled.

The police said no case was registered till late as efforts were being made to identify and track down the two accomplices of the arrested cousins.