Five arrested in Spain, France in connection with Brit toddler's kidnapping in Pak

Islamabad, Mar.18 : A day after the kidnapped five-year-old British boy Sahil Saeed was found abandoned by his kidnappers, five people were detained in Spain and France in connection with the abduction.

Confirming the arrests, the Spanish Interior Ministry said that a ransom of 80,000 pounds was paid in Paris for Sahil's safe release.

According to the Spanish newspaper, El Pais, two among those arrested belonged to Pakistan and a Romanian woman, who is believed to have collected the ransom in Paris, was also nabbed.

The newspaper quoted police officials, as saying that two 'collaborators' were also arrested during a raid on an apartment in Paris.

Meanwhile, a British High Commission spokesman said that Sahil would be handed over to his father as soon as he reaches Pakistan from Britain.

Sahil's family members had rejected any ransom being paid for his safe return, however officials are investigating the possibility of a massive amount being paid to abductors to settle a 'long-standing debt.

Reports regarding the involvement of family members in the abduction have also been denounced by Sahil's mother, Akila Naqqash.

"It is a lot of rubbish to us. We just heard what has been said on the news. We don''t know anything about it. We have had the full support of the police, churches, mosques, Pakistani government and authorities over there," she said soon after news regarding Sahil's return was flashed in the media.

Sahil, who was kidnapped by armed robbers while he was on a visit to his grand mother's house in Jhelum in Pakistan's Punjab province, was found abandoned in a field in Gujrat district on Tuesday.