Kidnapped boy's family angry at 'inside job' claim

The family of a five-year-old boy from Oldham snatched by gun-wielding raiders in Pakistan yesterday angrily insisted that the kidnap was no "inside job".

Several men - including a taxi driver - have been arrested in connection with the abduction of Sahil Saeed, who was taken from his grandmother's house in the Punjab region on Thursday.

The boy's mother, Akila Naqqash, and aunt, Amrana Iftikhar, spoke out after Wajid Shamsul Hasan, the Pakistani High Commissioner in the UK, said there was "a possibility of someone in the family having some sort of knowledge".

Breaking down in tears at the family home in Oldham, Greater Manchester, Ms Iftikhar said: "We are such a close family, no family member could do this to a child, not our family."

Ms Naqqash spoke of the growing frustration for relatives as they wait for news. She said: "We are getting no answers. How are they treating him? Is he eating? He is just a little boy, what has he done wrong?"

The armed raiders, wielding guns and grenades, apparently subjected the family in Pakistan to a six-hour ordeal after breaking into the house in Jhelum. The attackers are said to have demanded a £100,000 ransom for the boy's return.

Mr Hasan told GMTV that detectives were looking at the possibility of whether the kidnap was "a sort of inside job". But speaking later on ITV News he appeared to distance himself from the comments, saying: "I did not say that it is an inside job done by the family, I said somebody nearby must have informed those criminals and they must be in league with them.

"For example we are suspecting the driver who brought them home or anybody relating to him could have done it. Although there have been leads, there have been arrests and the taxi driver has been arrested and he is being questioned and there are other leads also which tend to certain telephone calls. I can't tell you about the whereabouts of those telephone calls for the safety of the child or I can't name the persons who have been arrested."

Ms Naqqash begged the British government for their help as she renewed her bid to get her little boy back. She added: "I need the help of the government in the UK, they have not responded to us about what stage they are at and how they are going to help us. I want them to do something about it. He must be scared now. I am pleading, please just help us, please, please."