Brit toddler’s kidnappers killed in encounter: Pak police

Islamabad, Apr.16 (ANI): Three kidnappers, who were involved in the abduction of the five-year British kid Sahil Saeed, have been killed in an encounter, Pakistani police officials have said.

Sahil was kidnapped at gunpoint from her grandmother’s house in Jhelum last month just hours before he was to board a flight back to London.

He was released later after his family reportedly paid a hefty ransom of about 110,000 pounds.

The abductors identified as Safeer alias Safeera, Naveed alias Veda and Mudassar were killed in a police encounter near Kotla Arab Ali Khan, some 40 kilometres from Gujrat, while trying to flee, officials said.

Confirming reports about the encounter, District Police Officer (DPO) Tariq Abbas Qureshi said the Jhelum police had arrested Safeer last month, and was taking him to a village for identifying his other friends involved in the crime.

“The police party along with Safeer were intercepted by Naveed and Mudassar on their way to Sariya village. In a bid to free Safeer, Naveed and Mudassar opened fire, and in the ensuing gunfight they were killed,” The Dawn quoted Qureshi, as saying.

He, however, failed to clarify how Safeer, who was in police custody, was killed. (ANI)