A 13yearold boy, Sohail Ahmed Lashari, was kidnapped at gunpoint on Tuesday by armed men on the KandhkotShikarpur Indus Highway, near Khanpur, in the jurisdiction of Naparkot police station, local authorities said.

The abductors intercepted the boy, the son of Mazda driver Liaqat Ali Lashari, on the Faizoo Rustam Link Road and took him towards the katcha area of Khanpur, police said.

In response, the boy’s parents and a group of Mazda drivers staged a protest, blocking the highway for several hours, demanding the immediate recovery of the child. The demonstrators accused local authorities of failing to maintain security and claimed that criminal groups frequently loot vehicles and set up unauthorized checkpoints without interference from police or law enforcement agencies.

No FIR could be registered as of late Tuesday evening, authorities said. The protesters have called on Shikarpur police and the Sindh government to take swift action for the boy’s recovery.