Reports: 'Kidnapped' British boy found

The five-year-old British boy allegedly kidnapped by gunmen in Pakistan has been found, it was reported today.

UK diplomats said they were “urgently” checking reports that Sahil Saeed, from Oldham in Greater Manchester, had been located by local police officers.

Sky News reported that he had been found yesterday, quoting Pakistani government officials.

The boy was allegedly grabbed by gun and grenade-wielding raiders from his grandmother’s house in Punjab last Thursday.

A spokesman at the British High Commission in Islamabad said he received ``no evidence'' this morning that the boy had been found.

But he added: “We are urgently chasing reports.”

There were conflicting reports that his father, Raja Naqqash Saeed, who was with him on the trip, had returned to Britain.

Relatives said the raiders struck as Sahil and his father were preparing to fly home, apparently subjecting the family to a six-hour ordeal after breaking into the house in Jhelum.

Pakistan’s prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani called Sahil’s father at the weekend to assure him the family had the full support of his government.

On Sunday, the boy’s mother, Akila Naqqash, made a direct appeal to the abductors from the family home in Oldham to end their ordeal and let her son go.

In a message to the kidnappers, Ms Naqqash, 31, said: “I just want my son back. All is forgiven, I will forgive you.

“You may have children yourself. I forgive you.”

Sources at Manchester Airport said Mr Saeed arrived back in the UK on a flight from Islamabad at 6.30pm on Tuesday.

Sources close to the family in Shaw, Oldham, said they were unaware that Mr Saeed had returned to the UK or why he would choose to do so as the hunt to find his son continues in Pakistan.

The family has been in regular contact with Sahil’s father since the boy’s disappearance.

The current whereabouts of Mr Saeed are unknown.

Two officials from the Pakistan High Commission spent a hour at the family home in Oldham and left without making comment.

It is thought they were questioning family members on the whereabouts of Mr Saeed.