Fugitive father tied up foster parent before taking sons

A FUGITIVE father, who abducted his three children, fled after tying up their foster mother at knifepoint, it emerged yesterday.

Imran Safi, 26, snatched his sons from their foster home in Coulsdon, south London, on Aug 20, triggering an international manhunt.

He disappeared without trace after bundling Bilal, six, Mohammed Ebrar, five, and Mohammed Yaseen, three, into the back of a car and driving off.

Detectives said there was a “strong possibility” that Safi, an Afghan national with links to Pakistan, has taken the children overseas.

They confirmed that he had bound the boys’ foster mother in her home on Coulsdon Road. The woman is believed to be a grandmother in her 60s who had been caring for the children for nearly two years. After Safi fled, she managed to attract the attention of neighbours, who freed her and raised the alarm, a police source said.

A family friend said: “It’s a tragic, catastrophic event. I think it’s disgusting what happened to them. The kids saw their father do that to their foster mother. How are they going to grow up knowing that their father tied someone up and held a knife?”

Neighbours and friends of the foster mother claimed that social services had first taken the children into their custody over concerns about the standard of care they were receiving.

One neighbour said: “They are lovely boys. They speak very good English, and were becoming well-rounded and really happy, playful children. Just noisy boys living life.”

Police yesterday arrested four men on suspicion of involvement in the plot at an address in Ilford.

The suspects, aged between 21 and 41, were all said to be known to Safi. They have been taken to a police station in south London for questioning.

There were no signs of either Safi or the children at the property, but the force said the development could be “one step closer” to finding them.

Scotland Yard said it was working with national and international agencies to identify any travel to a foreign country, and an all-ports alert was issued shortly after the children were taken. There is not believed to be any immediate threat to their lives.