MAKKAH, 21 April 2008 — The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Makkah arrested an Asian expatriate who kidnapped a 14-year-old boy by pretending to be a commission member on the city’s Mansoor Street yesterday.
After forcing the boy into his car, the man drove to a nearby commission office to convince him that he was a real commission member. He walked into the office after telling the boy that if he attempted to run away, the commission would send the police after him, a commission source told Arab News.
Inside the office, the man told commission members that he had important information on immoral activities in the neighborhood. Commission members asked him to give the information in writing. At that the man said he would return, as he had not locked his car.
Commission members became suspicious and followed the man to his car where they found him arguing with the boy, who was crying. On questioning, the boy told the commission members that the man had taken his mobile phone and kidnapped him, pretending to be a commission member.
The Asian man, on the other hand, said the boy was lying and that he was just giving the boy a lift. The member searched the man and recovered the boy’s phone and a fake commission ID card. The man was arrested and handed to police for questioning.
