Islamabad, March 16 (DPA) A British boy kidnapped around two weeks ago in Pakistan has been found safe, the British High Commission here said Tuesday.
“This is fantastic news,” British High Commission spokesman Adam Smith said. “It brings to an end the traumatic ordeal faced by Sahil and his family.”

Sahil Saeed, 5, was abducted from Jehlum city in Punjab during a robbery March 3 while he was on a holiday and visiting his grandmother.

“I would like to praise the high level of cooperation between UK and Pakistani authorities, and in particular, I would like to thank the Jhelum police for their role in bringing about the safe return of Sahil,” Smith said.

A Pakistani police official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said a ransom was paid to the abductors, who left the boy near a school building Tuesday morning in Dinga town, 20 km south of Jhelum.

The official did not give the ransom amount but said the kidnappers had demanded 100,000 pounds (around $150,000) for the release of Saeed, from Oldham in Great Manchester. The British government paid the ransom, the official added.

Rana Sanaullah, law minister for the regional administration of Punjab province, said the authorities would provide further details later in the day.

“It is not a simple matter which can be understood only by the word ‘recovery’,” he told Aaj Television. “It is a very complicated issue.”

Authorities in Pakistan have repeatedly claimed that someone from inside the family must have been involved in the kidnapping.

The statement from the British mission came five days after Sanaullah told reporters that Saeed had been recovered, a statement he later retracted.