Pakistan Officers Sacked Over Response to UK Boy Kidnap - Stealth Fusion

Mrs L · #1 (**permalink**) 03-07-2010, 05:56 AM

Sahil Saeed was taken by robbers after a raid on his grandmother's home

Quote:

Four police officers in Pakistan have been sacked over their handling of the kidnap of a five-year-old British boy.

Sahil Saeed, from Oldham, was snatched by armed robbers on Wednesday while visiting relatives with his father.

But the police did not initially respond to the family's emergency call to "Rescue 15", the Pakistani equivalent of 999.

Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik met Sahil's father and said he planned to "make an example of" the captors.

Sahil was taken from his grandmother's home in the Punjab city of Jhelum as he prepared to take a taxi to the airport for his return flight to the UK.

The attackers are said to have demanded a £100,000 ransom for his return.

'Pray for him'

On Saturday, Sahil's mother Akila Naqqas leaded for his safe return, saying she would forgive his son's captors if they released him.

She also said Sahil had never been apart from either herself or her husband.

"It's just a nightmare. I'm not sleeping at all," she said. "It's worse at night when I have no-one to comfort me.

"All we can do is just pray for him."

It is understood several men, including a taxi driver, have been arrested in Pakistan.

The interior minister visited Sahil 's father Raja Saeed in Jhelum on Sunday.

Mr Malik told him the police believed the kidnappers were people close to the family, and that they were closing in on the culprits.

"We have certain leads that I would not like to discuss," he said. "But a warning to those abductors - leave the boy because we are very near to you."

He also said the kidnap was "humiliating" for Pakistan and the captors would be made an "example off".

BBC News - Pakistan officers sacked over response to UK boy kidnap