Date:10/11/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/11/10/stories/2005111013500100.htm

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`Abduction' of Pakistani boy being probed

Diplomatic Correspondent

Roshan, son of a clerk in the Pakistan High Commission, was picked up by unidentified persons in a jeep

NEW DELHI: The External Affairs Ministry said on Wednesday that the "alleged abduction" of a dependent of a Pakistani High Commission official in the capital on Tuesday was being investigated after the issue was raised both in New Delhi and Islamabad by Pakistani authorities.

A Pakistan High Commission official told this correspondent that Deputy High Commissioner Munawar Saeed Bhatty met Joint Secretary (Pakistan) Dilip Sinha on Wednesday at South Block and asked for an inquiry into the matter.

The official said that Roshan Ali, teenaged son of Asghar Ali, a clerk in the Pakistan High Commission, was abducted close to the National Institute of Information Technology (NIIT) in South Extension on Tuesday. Roshan, an NIIT student, was apparently dumped near India Gate several hours later, around 2 a.m. on Wednesday morning.

Roshan was picked up by some unidentified persons in a jeep and chloroformed, the official stated, adding that he was also blindfolded. According to the official, the boy was also "photographed" with some dead bodies before being dumped near India Gate. A letter was also found on his person, which threatened Roshan with dire consequences. When asked whether the boy had been beaten, the High Commission official replied in the negative.

The identity of the persons who abducted him was also not known.

After India-Pakistan relations began improving in November 2003, this is one of the first instances of its kind, where a complaint of abduction and harassment has been made.