Police investigate kidnapped boy's family finances

Pakistani police investigating the kidnapping of British boy, Sahil Saeed, are looking into his father's  financial background. Officers believe a large "ransom" may have been paid for the release of the five-year-old to settle a long-standing debt. Sources close to the inquiry have told The Daily Telegraph, the abduction may have been more complicated than a straightforward kidnapping. The boy, who was taken by armed robbers during a visit to his grandmother's house in Jhelum, in Pakistan's Punjab province, was yesterday found abandoned in a field in Gujrat district, where villagers handed him over to the police. His release was confirmed by Britain's High Commissioner to Pakistan and by members of the boy's family who expressed their delight at his safe return. The boy's mother, Akila Naqqash, spoke of her joy at his release after hearing the news at 4.40am yesterday. "I'm overjoyed, over the moon. I spoke to my little boy this morning. Straight away he heard my voice he said 'mummy, mummy, I've got some new toys.' He was just a normal little boy," she said. His father, Raja Naqqash Saeed, returned to Britain last week while his son was still being held by his captors, shortly after making an emotional appeal for his release and pleading with the kidnappers that he could not afford their ransom demands. But Punjab province's law minister, Rana Sanaullah, yesterday claimed Mr Saeed may have returned to Britain to negotiate with the kidnappers and that the boy was released after a ransom believed to be around £80,000 was paid. "An international gang was involved in it, and it was demanding the ransom outside Pakistan in a European country," he said. Police said their inquiry was focused on Spain where an estimated 60,000 Pakistanis live in an around Barcelona. Many of them are believed to have roots in the Jhelum area. A source close to the investigation said they were looking into whether the kidnapping was connected to debts.