General Chat

I have been surprised that no one put up a thread about this little boy when he was kidnapped, but have been watching for good news of him. I do hope he is ok despite being held for so long away from his family.

LIzx


Last Updated: Tuesday, 16 March 2010, 14:14 GMT- Search: Pakistan kidnap boy freed

Sahil Saeed has been found safe and wellThe mother of a five-year-old British boy kidnapped by gunmen in Pakistan has told of her joy after he was released unharmed.
Sahil Saeed, who was snatched from a house in the Punjab region on March 4, was found wandering alone in a field this morning.
His mother Akila Naqqash, speaking from the family home in Oldham, Greater Manchester, described the moment she found out he had been released.
She said: "It was amazing. At first I thought it was not true. I talked to him on the phone, my little boy. It reassured me that he is safe and he's been released from the kidnappers. That's enough for me."

She said she was "gobsmacked" to hear her son's voice again on the phone.
A police liaison officer said: "They are overjoyed. For 12 or 13 days, waiting, building hopes up and then hopes going down. She is overjoyed. It is really happy, just really happy. They were made aware he had been found safe and well. Mother has spoken on the telephone and spoke to him for some time, a private conversation. He is safe and well."
Sahil is understood to still be in Pakistan and his return is being organised by the British High Commission in Islamabad. It is thought family members will fly out to be reunited with him in Pakistan before he is flown back to the UK.
Greater Manchester Police Assistant Chief Constable Dave Thompson said Sahil was released at 4.10am British time in Kharian City in the Punjab.
He said: "The release was made as a result of a phone call made to his family. He was released nearby to a school, alone, wandered into a local field and was found by some local residents who looked after him until such time his family found him with the police.
"This remains a fast-moving international inquiry. It is led in Pakistan but over the last 12 days there has been considerable support delivered by the Greater Manchester Police to support the safe return of this young boy. This still remains a very active criminal investigation and Greater Manchester Police and the Pakistani authorities are still determined to bring people to justice and that will be a high priority in the coming hours days and weeks."

Hope the culprits are found and punished or it will happen again, especially as a ransom was paid.

Has little Sahil's father been found yet, it just seems a very funny affair to me.

I agree Linda,
It just doesnt seem to add up somewhere concerning the father, but I hope the little one isnt too upset by his experiences.
Kay

I wonder if the police are looking for him, and if he has got anything do with it, I just feel very sorry little Sahil.

The father, after he came back to Britain, was in touch and spoke with Manchester police and was reunited with the family, it said on the news the other day.

I heard on the news that it was known whether a ransom was paid or not.

I too hope he is not mentally disturbed by what happened.

I wonder if anything is being done to find the little girl who was snatched a while back, her mother went to see the family in Pakistan and the father got the chief of police round to talk with her so that they tried harder to find her daughter, but then it all went quiet again.
I think another little boy snatched, was found ok or was released anyway, as there was confusion over whether it was Sahil or not last week. I don't know if ransoms were demanded then, or paid.

It's a terrible state of affairs, but how can you leave a child with strangers if you feel a ransom will bring them home?

Same as those poor people with the Somali pirates, no one is paying the ransom and they have been held for months now, and getting more and more unwell too. It must be a living hell for them and if they were my family I would be distraught at being unable to help them.

Positive thoughts for all those snatched children everywhere and for the couple in Somalia.

Lizx