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Sahil Saeed not yet recovered

Posted on: Fri March 12, 2010

LONDON/ISLAMABAD: British boy Sahil Saeed, who was kidnapped from his family s home in Jhelum, has yet to be found, British and Pakistani officials said on Thursday, following erroneous news of his release which Pakistan s envoy here said was the result of mistaken identity.

Reports in Pakistan early Thursday suggested that the 5-year-old boy had been freed, which was confirmed by Pakistan s High Commissioner to London, Wajid Shamsul Hasan. Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah claimed in the morning that Sahil Naqash had been recovered from Sialkot and reached London to be with his father. Later, Hasan told the British broadcasters that a boy in an unrelated case was the one released.

The diplomat said he was in contact with concerned authorities on the issue of the missing boy and hopefully some development would take place soon. In a telephonic interview to a Pakistani private television channel, he said in the morning there were reports that Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah had stated that the boy had been recovered, adding, I contacted Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and he told me that nothing of the sort has happened so far .

The chief minister, however, said that the Punjab Police have got some leads and were working on them, Hasan told the channel. Shahbaz further said that some individuals were also taken into custody in this regard who are being investigated and hopefully the child would be recovered soon, the HC said.

To a question, he said the international and particularly the Western media has little knowledge about the family affairs in Pakistan so they were very quick to highlight the things. The real situation would come to surface when the investigation is completed, the anti-Pakistan campaign of the Western media would itself fade away, Hasan opined.

To another question, he said according to authorities in the Punjab government, the father of missing boy has not returned to the UK, rather he was in police protection in Pakistan. Sahil s grandfather Raja Mohammed Basharat told the AP he had no news one way or the other. The government has not given any information to us about the recovery of Sahil, he said.

Basharat said he had also lost contact with his son Raja Naqqash Saeed. I don t know where my son is, as I have no contact with him for the past four days, he said.Moreover, the Punjab government has clarified the statement of provincial law minister saying the statement was a result of a misunderstanding. The Regional Police Officer, Rawalpindi, has also said the abducted boy had not been recovered yet.

Courtesy : The News