Hunt for father who abducted his three sons from foster home
A MANHUNT is under way for a father after he snatched his three young sons from a foster home at knifepoint.
Imran Safi arrived at the address in Coulsdon, south London, as the three children were playing in the garden last Thursday, police said. Hearing the sound of footsteps, their foster mother turned to see the 26-year-old brandishing a blade – which he used to threaten her as he abducted the boys by force, according to Scotland Yard.
The woman was assaulted but did not suffer any serious physical injuries during the confrontation, which Scotland Yard said left her “understandably distressed”.
Bilal, six, Mohammed Ebrar, five, and Mohammed Yaseen, three, were bundled into the back of a vehicle and spirited away from the house at around 6pm. They have not been seen since.
Hundreds of officers have now been called in by the country’s largest police force to help track down the young family, who have so far disappeared without a trace. It is believed Safi may have been driven to abducting the three boys after learning they were due to be formally adopted after spending more than a year in care.
Last night, sources told The Daily Telegraph that the father, who is unemployed, should not have known where his children were living and how he located them will form part of the ongoing police investigation.
Detectives believe there is a “strong possibility” Safi has already succeeded in taking them abroad.
Commander John Savell claimed yesterday that the boys “may very well be stashed away in the London area or elsewhere”, but added: “The longer time goes on, the more we believe the possibility is that somehow he has managed to get them out of the country.” He said Safi, who is an Afghani national with links to Pakistan, did not have the boys’ passports. “Not legitimate passports, anyway,” he added. All of the children are understood to be Afghani nationals who moved to the country with their family in recent years.
The force is working with national and international agencies to identify any travel to a foreign country and an all-ports alert was issued shortly after they were taken. Explaining why investigators had become increasingly convinced the family had gone abroad, Ch Supt Dave Stringer said: “It would be quite difficult to keep three young boys completely hidden for a week.”
It is unclear why the boys had originally been taken into care, with police only disclosing that officers had been in contact with their biological mother.
Launching an urgent appeal yesterday, two of the officers leading the investigation said the abduction appeared to be planned because Safi and the boys had not been spotted since.
While officers have recently recovered the car in which the boys were taken – a red Nissan Qashqai – in west Croydon, it was not picked up on any CCTV in the wider area during the escape. Police suspect associates helped him execute the plot and have arrested and bailed six men and two women, aged between 17 and 37, on suspicion of involvement in the abduction. All were described as relatives or friends. Safi does not have a “serious criminal background” and police do not believe there is any immediate risk to the boys’ lives.
Police have not said why it took seven days to make public an appeal, but admitted a lack of sightings may have allowed Safi to leave the UK and travel to Pakistan.
‘The longer time goes on, the more we believe... that somehow he has managed to get them out of the country’