RAHIM YAR KHAN: Police claimed on Wednesday to have arrested a woman and recovered from her a five-month-old boy, who had been kidnapped from Pakpattan two days back.

According to a district police press release, Mehwish, a resident of Chak 7-KB in Pakpattan, temporarily staying in Raiwind after a dispute with her husband, went to the shrine of Baba Fareed with her infant son, Ali Shan, for rituals.

On Oct 28, she briefly handed Ali Shan over to an unknown woman she had met at the shrine while she went to perform ablution. When she returned, the woman had disappeared with her son.

After she raised the alarm, her stepfather, Shoukat and a shrine employee, Muhammad Asim, helped in searching for the woman and child. When their search proved unsuccessful, Mehwish filed a report with the City Pakpattan police.

The police registered a first information report under Section 363 of the Pakistan Penal Code on her complaint.

On Wednesday, Rahim Yar Khan police received information about a woman travelling with an infant on a bus en route from Pakpattan to Karachi.

Rahim Yar Khan District Police Officer Rizwan Umar Gondal formed a team that intercepted the bus, arrested the suspect, Nazia Bibi, and safely recovered Ali Shan.

The suspect was allegedly transporting the child to Karachi for unknown reasons.

Later, police handed over Ali Shan to her mother and started investigation against the suspect.

According to a police source, the woman was involved in kidnapping of minor children and she allegedly kidnapped few minors earlier and sold them in Karachi. However, police authorities did not confirm these allegations against the woman.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2024