Freedom hope for British boy kidnapped in Pakistan

There were hopes a five-year-old British boy kidnapped by armed raiders in Pakistan could be freed today as police questioned at least one man about the snatch.

Sahil Saeed, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, was taken from his grandmother’s house in the Punjab region yesterday morning by men wielding guns and grenades who subjected the family to a six-hour ordeal.

The attackers are said to have demanded a £100,000 ransom for the boy’s return.

Police in Pakistan have since confirmed the arrest of one man over the kidnapping and there are reports that the country’s authorities are confident Sahil could be freed within 24 hours.

According to the BBC, two people “very close” to the kidnapping were being questioned, but the Foreign Office had not been able to verify this.

Sahil’s mother wept yesterday as she begged the kidnappers not to hurt her son, who had been due to fly home the day he was snatched.

Akila Naqqash, 31, said there was “no way” her family could afford the six-figure ransom on his head.

Speaking at her home in Oldham, Ms Naqqash described her son as a “really sweet boy”.

She added: “We have got no idea why we were targeted, we don’t have any money. There is no way we could raise that money, there is nothing we can do.

“I would say (to the kidnappers) just why? Why can’t you just be a grown person? He is just a little boy. He is just five years old, he was due to come home today. Please don’t hurt him.”

Breaking down in tears, Ms Naqqash added: “He is just a really sweet little boy, he is really tiny, he would not harm anyone.”

She told how her son was “always smiling” but had become fed up with eating chapatis since his father had taken him to stay with relatives.

Ms Naqqash said: “I phoned him every day of the last two weeks.

“When I last spoke to him he just said he couldn’t wait to come home and have a jacket potato, he was fed up of the chapatis.”

His father, Raja Naqqash Saeed, who was described by the family as “hysterical” after the ordeal, said the kidnappers had originally put a deadline of noon yesterday on the ransom for Sahil’s safe return.

He said robbers armed with guns and hand grenades had broken into the house in Jhelum, where he and his son were staying with the youngster’s grandmother.

Ms Naqqash, who also has two daughters, Anisha, four, and Hafsah, 21 months, said she had heard nothing from the kidnappers.

She added: “My husband would swap places if he could, he said to them ’Take me, I’ll be your hostage’. We just want him back home.

“I found out at 7.45am when my sister knocked on the door, I was just making breakfast for my daughter.

“She said, ’You need to sit down I’ve got some bad news’.

“I just broke down and thought it can’t be true so I phoned my husband and he said it was true.”

Jane Sheridan, head teacher at Rushcroft Primary School where Sahil was a pupil, said she was “deeply concerned”.

“Rushcroft is a very close-knit and friendly school community and Sahil and his family are very much in all our thoughts,” she said.

“I have informed the children, staff and governors about the situation today and clearly they are all very worried.

“Everyone at the school is deeply concerned about Sahil’s welfare and we are doing all we can to support his family during this extremely difficult time.”