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Anorak News | Sahil Saeed: Timeline Of A Curious Story

Sahil Saeed: Timeline Of A Curious Story

by | 16th, March 2010

SAHIL Saeed: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at the British boy from kidnapped from his granny’s house in Pakistan as he and his father, Raja Naqqash Saeed, were nearing the end of a holiday. The kidnappers wanted £100,000 for the boy.

Sky News:

Missing five-year-old Sahil Saeed has been found safe and well in Pakistan – and was reportedly handed to authorities “four to five days ago”.

Sahil Saeed – A Strange Affair – in pictures

So, Sky News was right when it said he’d been found on March 11.

On Friday a Pakistani government minister Rana Sanaullah told Sky News the young boy had been found, a week after he was reported missing. But the law minister later retracted his account, and apologised for his “mistake”. He has now told Sky’s Alex Crawford his initial statement was correct.

Reports suggest Sahil was found in Dinga, only 20 miles from his grandma’s home.

THE TIMELINE

March 3

On the last day of his holidays, Sahil Saeed and his dad Raja Naqqash Saeed are attacked by men armed with guns and grenades at the home of the boy’s grandma in Jhelum. In a six-hour ordeal, Raja is tortured.

March 4

Sahil is kidnapped. Raja Naqqash Saeed claims that the villains want £100,000 ransom for Sahil’s safe return.

Sahil’s mother Akila Naqqash is in Oldham, at the family’s home. She says the money cannot be paid. They don’t have it. Says Mr Saeed:

“I told them I don’t have that much money… I can’t afford that.”

In Pakistan, a man is arrested.

Sahil Saeed Is Missing: Can He Become The Media’s ‘Our Saeed’

Sahil Saeed – A Strange Affair – in pictures

March 5

The kidnappers call Mr Saeed on the telephone and tell him ”the boy is with us and we will call you later”.

The Guardian gets an expert in to speculate on whether or not Sahil is being sexually abused:

Salma Jafar, head of programmes for Save the Children UK in Pakistan, said child kidnapping was a huge problem. She said: “Children may be kidnapped for trafficking for child labour or for sexual exploitation, and are also sometimes kidnapped because of family disputes.

And you can rule out the Taliban, says the Guardian:

The manner of Sahil’s kidnapping suggests it was not carried out by militants.

The BBC calls Sahil Saeed: Sahil Shaeed.

Says mum:

“I phoned him every day of the last two weeks. When I last spoke to him he just said he couldn’t wait to come home and have a jacket potato, he was fed up of the chapatis.”

Sahil Saeed: Taliban, Sobbing Mum, A jacket Potato And Sahil Shaeed

March 6

Pakistan’s prime minister get involved. Yousuf Raza Gilani says the boy will eb found.

Akila tells the media:

”I just want my son back. All is forgiven, I will forgive you.”

March 7

The interior minister, Rehman Malik says:

“I will say one thing: there is an involvement of the household. There is somebody who was very close to the family. Because of the way the situation has happened, the way the abduction has happened, the way the entry was made… This is not a crime against just one family but against the entire nation. This is an attempt to spoil the situation in Pakistan.”

March 1o

Mr Saeed flies back to Blighty. Sky News reports that he has not returned but remains in Pakistan. The Mail says he has retuned to Manchester Airport. The Telegraph says he “flees” Pakistan.

We are invited to watch the parents:

The boy’s parents are reported to have been involved in a bitter separation shortly before the kidnap. Mr Saeed took his son out of school and flew with him to his family’s home in Pakistan, leaving his wife Akila behind in Oldham. Mr Saeed, who is unemployed, denied reports of a row or that any of his relations were involved.

Sahil Saeed Is Not Pakistan’s Shannon Matthews So Gordon Brown Should Help

March 11

Sky news announces that Sahil has been found live and well. And then we learn, via the Foreign Office, that Sahil has not been found.

Pakistan’s law minsiter Wajid Shamsal Hasan told Sky News:

“It is a case of mistaken identity which has been spread by the media.

“Sahil Saeed has not been found, but there are definite leads and police will find him soon.”

March 12

The Sun whispers: “Kidnap lad’s missing dad was ‘in on plot’

Can Sahil Saeed be this year’s Shannon Matthews, the Dewsbury girl ‘kidnapped’ by her own family in a scam for cash? Mr Raja Seeed is innocent. But that Sun headline is suggestive of more. Any other theories?

Raja has denied taking Sahil away because of rows with wife Akila. Cops are also working on the theory that Sahil may have been abducted by robbers – as his relatives claimed.

The Evening Standard: “Family rift may be behind plot to kidnap British boy”

Kiran Randhawa has news:

Sahil Saeed’s father Raja Naqqash Saeed is among the suspects after he defied detectives and left Pakistan, where his son is still missing, and flew back to the UK. His family in Oldham say they do not know where he is.

Well, that’s what they’re telling the media.

March 16

Sahil Saeed is found alive and well.

Sahil Saeed – A Strange Affair – in pictures



Posted: 16th, March 2010 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink