DUSHANBE, February 13, 2014, Asia-Plus /Avaz Yuldoshev/ -- An operation by police officers has reportedly led to the arrest of three kidnappers in Dushanbe.

According to the Interior Ministry’s website, the 18-year-old resident of the northern city of Panjakent Iskandarsho Kamolov, who was the first-year student at the Tajik Technological University, the 17-year-old resident of Dushanbe Ulughbek Nourov, and the 17-year-old of the city of Qurhgon Teppa were arrested on February 12 on suspicion of kidnapping.

The 12-year-old boy and his 9-year-old sister were reportedly abducted in Dushanbe’s Firdavsi neighborhood on January 9 and kidnappers demanded the 200,000 U.S. dollars ransom from their parents for the release of the children.

The abducted children were found and returned to their parents on the same day, while the kidnappers were arrested on February 12.

Iskandarsho Kamolov was reportedly working with the father of the kidnapped children, Mohammadafzal Said Mohammad, who is national of Afghanistan, at Alokozay Company’s office the Dushanbe.  Kamolov got information about Said Mohammad’s incomes and decided to abduct his children for ransom, the source said.

Criminal proceedings have been instituted against alleged kidnappers and an investigation is under way.