ISLAMABAD, June 22: A 12-year-old boy disappeared from a seminary where he had been learning religious education for the last six months, police said.

The incident came to light when parents of the boy lodged a complaint with the Aabpara police on June 4. When the police contacted the administration of Astana Khairya Madressah at G-7/2, they said the student, Zeeshan, a native of Rawat, had run away from the institution on June 2. However, his parents alleged that the seminary administration was behind the boy's disappearance and asked the police to recover him.

The parents said the administration of the seminary did not inform them about the disappearance of their son. Rather, they added, one of their neighbours, whose son was also studying in the institution, had brought the news to them.

They said a student - Imran - from Gojra also told them that he had seen Zeeshan leaving the madressah along with Qari Amjad, the driver of the seminary's administrator, at around 4am on June 2. When police contacted Qari Amjad, he said on the night of June 1 he caught Zeeshan searching the box of his roommate. Amjad said he threatened the boy that he would bring the matter into the knowledge of the administration.

The next day, the boy was found missing from his room, he added. “We brought the matter into the knowledge of his parents the same day,” he told the police.

The police request for CCTV footage record was turned down by the madressah administration saying it had been deleted, said the sources. —– Munawer Azeem