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| Confusion over kidnap in Pakistan | Confusion over kidnap in Pakistan |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Police in Pakistan have dismissed reports a British boy who was kidnapped last week has been released. | |
| Five-year-old Sahil Saeed from Oldham, Greater Manchester, was seized by an armed gang while staying with relatives last week. | Five-year-old Sahil Saeed from Oldham, Greater Manchester, was seized by an armed gang while staying with relatives last week. |
| A Punjab minister has been reported as saying the boy was found on Wednesday and has been handed over to his father. | |
| But Kahlid Mahmoud, superintendent of the police investigation in Jhelum, has told the BBC the reports are false. | But Kahlid Mahmoud, superintendent of the police investigation in Jhelum, has told the BBC the reports are false. |
| The BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad said: "There is no independent verification of reports he has been released." | The BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad said: "There is no independent verification of reports he has been released." |
| A High Commission spokesman said UK diplomats are checking reports that Sahil has been released. | |
| Sahil had been taken from his grandmother's home in Jhelum, Punjab, as he prepared to take a taxi to the airport for his flight to the UK. | Sahil had been taken from his grandmother's home in Jhelum, Punjab, as he prepared to take a taxi to the airport for his flight to the UK. |
| Mother's pleas | |
| Several men, including a taxi driver, have been arrested since the kidnap. | Several men, including a taxi driver, have been arrested since the kidnap. |
| Four police officers were suspended after it emerged they did not initially respond to the family's emergency call. | |
| On Saturday, Sahil's mother Akila Naqqas pleaded for his safe return, saying she would forgive his son's captors if they released him. | |
| She also said Sahil had never been apart from either herself or her husband. | |
| The attackers are said to have demanded a £100,000 ransom for his return. | |
| Pakistani community groups in Oldham have said they are considering setting up a fund to pay ransoms in the event of kidnaps. | |
| The UK government has a policy of not paying ransoms and advises third parties against doing so, arguing that this would encourage future kidnappings. |