HYDERABAD: Body of a teen aged boy stuffed in a gunny bag was found in fields in the outskirts of Hyderabad Wednesday after he was kidnapped from a densely populated area on Tuesday evening.

The boy, identified as Wijdan son of Javed Memon, 16, had gone missing at around 5.30pm on Tuesday near his residence located in Fareed Plaza within the jurisdiction of Sakhi Pir police station. He was grade IX student.

“No body saw him being kidnapped from the area but I got a call one hour after a call from his son’s cell number. The caller asked me to pay Rs2 million for his release,” Memon told Dawn.com after burial of his son today evening.

He said that he didn’t take first call seriously and thought as if someone was kidding. “But then again he got another call at 8pm and the caller talked in a threatening tone and then the phone was switched off,” Memon said.

The family had informed Sakhi Pir police about incident when Wijdan went missing. But police couldn’t find any clue. Only a non-cognisable offence report was lodged. SHO of concerned police station Iftikhar Khanzada said that only the watchman of the Plaza had seen Wijdan heading towards Noorani Basti. “This watchman is the only witness and since then no one heard about his whereabouts until,” he said.

He added that on Wednesday morning he was informed by SHO Budani police station Mumtaz Thebo that a body is noticed by some women peasants in the field as it was stuffed in a bag. Then it was shifted to Liaquat University Hospital where it was identified by the grieving father.

Memon is a contractor by profession.

“We have heard that some friends had called him but we don’t know those friends. We will be making queries now after burial,” he said and added that an FIR has now been lodged formally with Sakhi Pir police.

Incidents of crime have shown a steep rise in Hyderabad district in the last few days. A man was gunned down in an attempted robbery in midst of the city when he was going to deposit Rs1.5 million on June 11 in the area of City police station. A trader, Yunus Arain, who was younger brother of former Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Nazim Babu Mohammad Hussain Arain, was gunned down within the jurisdiction of Pinyari police station in the wee hours of Tuesday (June 11) in Rehman Town area allegedly by a mainpuri and gutka seller – the products whose sale is officially banned but its continued under police patronage.

In yet another such incident, an MQM supporter was gunned down on Tuesday.

It has been seen that SHOs, usually, are posted for political considerations and their priorities are money minting by allowing illegal activities in their areas instead of combating crime. Some of the police stations like Phulleli, Market and Pinyari are considered very ‘lucrative’ in this respect.

Memon added that SHO had told him that he would trace the records of call made to and from Wijdan’s cell number soon to see who had been in touch with him until 5.30pm on Tuesday. “This will provide a big lead in investigation of the case”, he said.