DUSHANBE, July 25, 2016, Asia-Plus – Three persons have been detained in Dushanbe on suspicion of child abduction.

Quoting an official source at the Interior Ministry of Tajikistan, Imrouznews reports three persons were detained in Dushanbe on July 20 on suspicion of child abduction.  They were reportedly detained with the abducted 7-year-old F.B. 

According to Imrouznews, F.B. was released by law enforcement officers in twenty minutes after she was abducted

It is to be noted that F.B.’s family lives in the same building as families of cousins Sabina and Malika Aralova and family of Sabohat (Osiya) live.

We will recall that Sabina and Malika, age 4 and 6, disappeared under the same circumstances.  The girls disappeared after they went out to play in Dushanbe’s Ayni Street on March 25, 2013.

Senior representatives from the Interior Ministry told journalists on April 23, 2013, that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Interpol had reportedly been involved in the investigation into the disappearance of cousins Sabina and Malika.

The five-year-old Sabohat (Osiya) also disappeared after she went outside to play in the afternoon of August 8, 2014.  Her body was found in the river in the Hisor district on September 13, 2014.

The law enforcement authorities say that it cannot be ruled out that the detained kidnappers were also involved in abduction of cousins Sabina and Malika.

The investigation has reportedly established that the 48-year-old Matlouba Ahmadova was leader of the criminal group and she was mastermind of abduction of the 7-year-old F.B.

Criminal proceedings have been instituted against Matlouba Ahmadova and her two associates (one of them is physician and another one is taxi driver) under the provisions of Article 130 of Tajikistan’s Penal Code – abduction; an investigation is under way.