Pakistani court releases six-year-old boy "robber"

KARACHI, Aug 11 (Reuters) A Pakistani court has come to the rescue of a six-year-old boy arrested after police mistook him for a robber and absconder, a police official said today.

The case of mistaken identity occurred because the boy's name, Majeed Chandio, matched that of a notorious criminal and both belonged to the same tribe and village, said Javed Jiskani, district police officer in Khairpur, in Sindh province.

''The investigating officer was misguided by the relatives of the real criminal into believing that the boy's father was the father of the real criminal and noted down his address,'' Jiskani said.

The police raided the boy's house and detained him.

His distraught father later approached the local court which ordered police to produce the boy and then ordered his release.

REUTERS DKB RS2004