The latest in the spate of kidnappings, a 13-year-old boy was abducted on Saturday from Lahore’s Malipura area.
According to details, the boy had left home to bring groceries but did not return. Upon police’s reported lack of action over the incident, the residents protested by burning tires on the road.
The protesters although went home when police reassured them of investigation over the kidnapping.
Only a few days ago, a three-year-old girl went missing from Anarkali area.
A wave of anxiety has gripped the region following the kidnapping of 600 children from Lahore and other parts of Punjab within a short span of time.
The Supreme Court (SC) is currently hearing a suo motu case with regard to a surge in incidents of child kidnapping the province.
The police, meanwhile, maintain that not all of the missing children were kidnapped.
Earlier, Additional Inspector General (AIG) Shahzada Sultan, citing statistics, had said that during 2015 kidnapping cases of 1,134 children were registered in Punjab, of whom 1,093 were recovered.
“This year, 681 cases have been registered, while 640 children have already been recovered,” he stated.
Earlier in a rather controversial statement, Inspector General Punjab Police Mushtaq Ahmad Sukherha had reportedly said that the kidnapping of children was not a serious issue and it had been wrongly portrayed by media because most of the children ran away from their homes due to harsh attitudes of their parents.
