Malaysian police said Thursday they had recovered a 12-year-old Dutch boy who was seized six days ago near his house in the capital Kuala Lumpur.
Kuala Lumpur city police chief Mohmad Salleh said Nayati Shamelin Moodliar was returned unharmed and reunited with his parents.
Mohmad did not give details about how the boy was recovered, adding there was an ongoing effort to track down the kidnappers.
A police source said the boy was released early Thursday in Rawang town on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur after an undetermined amount of ransom money was paid to the kidnappers.
The Moodliar family confirmed the child's safe recovery but would not give details about the circumstances behind the release.
“We are delighted to tell you that Nayati is back home with us and, although it has obviously been a very traumatic time for him, he appears at this stage to be in good shape,” the Moodliar family said on a Facebook account set up to help recover the victim.
“We cannot begin to say how proud we are of him and the way that he has coped with the events of the past week,” they said.
“As we are sure you will understand, Nayati's kidnapping is the subject of an ongoing investigation so we are unfortunately not at liberty to reveal any of the details of the case at this stage,” they added.
Moodliar was seized on Friday while walking to Mont' Kiara International School, near his home in Kuala Lumpur, by two men who dragged him to a waiting black car, police said.
Nayati's kidnapping generated a public outcry in Malaysia and abroad, with more than 20 000 people expressing their support for the victim's family on the Facebook account set up to gather information to help find the abductee.
A Malaysian businessman and a Malaysia-based news portal had offered a reward totaling 60 000 ringgit (20 000 dollars) for information that could lead to the quick and safe recovery of Nayati. - Sapa-dpa