LAHORE: A minor boy who was kidnapped by unidentified armed car riders in a crowded street of Sanda area on Monday last was found `abandoned by kidnappers on a road`, police claimed here on Wednesday.

As per initial police investigations,10-year-old Tayyab was kidnapped at gunpoint by a notorious gang of pickpockets who had been blackmailing the boy.

According to a police official privy to the investigation, the boy had been working for the gang in the past, but a couple of months back he discontinued his criminal activities.

However, he said, the gang members were in contact with the boy for the last several months and had been blackmailing Tayyab and forcing him to either start working for them again, or pay them a hefty amount as `compensation`.The officer says the boy used to steal belongings of other children visiting a video game shop in the street where he lived with his parents.

He said the police extended the scope of investigations into the incident when it transpired that many other children had also been trapped by the same gang.

The of ficer said the gang kidnapped Tayyab when he refused to revive his nexus with the criminals.

He claimed that on knowing about police`s vigorous search for the kidnapped boy, the criminals left Tayyab on a road and fled away.

He said the close-up shots of the kidnappers, obtained from the CCTV cameras footage, got matched with the police record, revealing they were habitual criminals.

The boy has been handed over to his parents, the police official said, adding that the kidnappers would be arrested soon.