Kidnapped boy held as ransom deadline expires

The Foreign Office said one man had been arrested over the abduction of Sahil Saeed and was being questioned. The Foreign Office said the implications of the arrest were unclear.

Sahil, from Oldham, was visiting relatives in the Punjab region with his father when raiders struck shortly before they were due to return home.

When he was taken, the five- strong gang told his father Raja Naqqash Saeed, they wanted 100,000 to release him, with a deadline of noon yesterday.

In Oldham, his mother Akila Naqqash, 31, insisted the family did not have the money and begged the gang not to hurt her son.

She said: "We have got no idea why we were targeted, we don't have any money. There is no way we could raise that money, there is nothing we can do.

"I would say (to the kidnappers) just why? Why can't you just be a grown person? He is just a little boy. He is just five years old, he was due to come home today. Please don't hurt him."

Breaking down, Mrs Naqqash added: "He is just a really sweet little boy, he is really tiny, he would not harm anyone."

She told how her son was "always smiling" but had become fed up with eating chapatis since his father had taken him to stay with relatives.

Ms Naqqash added: "I phoned him every day of the last two weeks.

"When I last spoke to him he just said he couldn't wait to come home and have a jacket potato. He was fed up of the chapatis.

"He is always smiling; he has lots of friends. He is very popular at school, he loves his friends and his teachers and his school dinners.

"He was having such a good time out there, he was excited about going out there and seeing his grandmother."

His father said the kidnappers had put a noon deadline on the ransom for his safe return.

The father was "hysterical" after five gunmen held the family at gunpoint through Wednesday night, the family said.

Robbers armed with guns and hand grenades were said to have broken into the house in Jhelum, where the father and son were staying with the youngster's grandmother.

Mrs Naqqash, who also has two daughters, Anisha, four, and Hafsah, 21 months, said she had heard nothing from the kidnappers.

She added: "My husband would swap places if he could, he said to them 'take me, I'll be your hostage'. We just want him back home.

"I found out at 7.45am when my sister knocked on the door. I was just making breakfast for my daughter.

"She said 'you need to sit down, I've got some bad news'. I just broke down and thought it can't be true so I phoned my husband and he said it was true.

"I just cried and cried. That was the last time I spoke to him, I can't get through to him."

The boy's aunt, Amrana Iftikhar, called for Prime Minister Gordon Brown to intervene.

She added: "I just can't imagine life without Sahil. We just want him home safely.

"We have had no contact with the authorities in this country. Please just help us. He is five years old, he is going to be really scared; he never leaves his mum and dad's side. I would say to the Prime Minister do as much as you can to get him back because we need him home with us."

Relatives said they were beaten and kicked by the robbers during a six-hour ordeal.

The British High Commission in Islamabad said the gang had broken into the property at 11pm local time.

They eventually fled with the boy and household items, believed to be jewellery and cash.