Search for kidnapped boy, five, continuing

Muhammad Aslam Tareen, a police officer based in Punjab, said yesterday he could "categorically confirm" Sahil Saeed, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, was still missing.

"We are closing in, yes. But have we found him yet? No," the detective said. "We hope to have something in the next 24 to 48 hours."

He added: "I can categorically say the search is ongoing. We have made arrests in the past week and we are hopeful of significant progress in the next day."

Earlier the British High Commission in Islamabad and the Foreign Office said they had received "no evidence" to support reports the youngster had been found, quoting Pakistani government officials.

Sahil was allegedly grabbed by gun and grenade-wielding raiders from his grandmother's house in Punjab last Thursday.

The raiders allegedly struck as Sahil and his father were preparing to fly home, apparently subjecting the family to a six-hour ordeal after breaking into the house in Jhelum.

There were conflicting reports over whether his father, Raja Naqqash Saeed, who was with him on the trip, had returned to Britain.

Pakistan's prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani called Sahil's father at the weekend to assure him the family had the full support of his government.

On Sunday, the boy's mother, Akila Naqqash, made a direct appeal to the abductors from the family home in Oldham to end their ordeal and let her son go.

Sources at Manchester Airport said Mr Saeed arrived back in the UK on a flight from Islamabad at 6.30pm on Tuesday.

But sources close to the family in Oldham said they were unaware Mr Saeed had returned to the UK and his whereabouts were unknown yesterday.