KASUR: The body of a 13-year-old orphan boy, who had been kidnapped for ransom a week ago, was found in Changa Manga forest canal near Bhadoki village on Wednesday.

The victim, Muhammad Hassan, lived with his widow mother, Abida Bibi, in Theeng Mor locality. He was abducted on Dec 5 by unidentified kidnapper(s).

Police lodged a kidnapping case against unidentified criminal(s), on the complaint of the victim’s mother, but failed to trace them.

A couple of days later, the widow received a phone call from the kidnapper, who demanded Rs1 million from her for the boy’s release.

The victim’s mother recorded her phone conversation with the kidnapper(s) and gave it to the local police, but in vain.

On Wednesday, police recovered the body of Hassan from a canal near Changa Manga forest, some 20 kilometres from the house of the victim.

The police shifted the body to Chunian THQ Hospital for autopsy to ascertain the cause and time of death.

A police official said that it appears that the boy was strangled to death.

To a question, he said that autopsy report would reveal whether the boy was sexually assaulted or not.