Missing student alive and well - and in trouble - in Canada

To Furqan Muhammad-Haroon's anguished parents in the UAE, the reports of his disappearance in Canada were disturbing and baffling. Police were investigating a possible armed kidnapping off the side of a Toronto road, yet no witnesses came forward. His parents, who flew to Canada this week, were never contacted about a ransom. The 22-year-old University of Toronto engineering student had called a friend last Saturday, fearing that he was being followed while en route to the airport to join his family in Dubai.
But by Tuesday, when Mr Muhammad-Haroon was found safe in the city of St Catharines, the abduction tale had fallen apart. Earlier, police had received a tip that he was in the city about 100km west of Toronto. "Following on that tip, we investigated and found that it was indeed Furqan," a Toronto police constable, Wendy Drummond, said yesterday. The student was reportedly picked up near a mosque. Detectives questioned him and determined that the abduction was "allegedly fabricated", Const Drummond said.
Police charged Mr Muhammad-Haroon with public mischief and held him overnight on Tuesday in Scarborough Jail. He appeared in court yesterday morning with Shahzad Siddiqui, a lawyer representing the family. In an interview before the young man was found, Mr Siddiqui had said it had been a particularly trying for the young man's family due to the holy month. "He was planning to fly out to Dubai and they were expecting to see him there," Mr Siddiqui said on Tuesday from Toronto. "Especially given it's Ramadan, it's a hard time and there was a tearful press conference yesterday."
Comforted by his other sons this week, the young man's father, Haroon Muhammad, had pleaded in a voice cracking with emotion: "I'm appealing to all Canadians, please come forward if you know anything about my boy ... We want him back." He added: "It's like a month of peace, so let's be in a peaceful atmosphere." Last Saturday, Mr Muhammad-Haroon called a friend in Toronto while en route to the airport to catch his UAE-bound flight. He told the friend that he believed he was being followed.
"It was broad daylight, 3.30 in the afternoon," Mr Siddiqui said. "The situation, apparently, is that he was being followed by some armed gunmen. He called a friend to relay that to him just before he was apprehended and hasn't been heard from since." Police now say there is no evidence to corroborate that account. Mr Siddiqui described Mr Muhammad-Haroon as "an exceptional student". Friends told reporters that he was not the type who would get tangled up in criminal activity. However, it later emerged that the student was recently arrested and for allegedly stealing computer equipment from his former employer, IBM Canada. He is to appear in court next month on those charges.
Even though Mr Muhammad-Haroon withdrew C$2000 to buy a ticket to the UAE, he would not have been allowed to fly out of the country due to the pending charges, according to Const Drummond. Mr Siddiqui said he was unsure whether the family lived in Abu Dhabi or Dubai, but said he believed the father worked in the UAE and split his time between the Emirates and Canada. Const Drummond said one of the parents took a connecting flight to Toronto, while another flew in from Abu Dhabi. She was unsure where the family was from, but confirmed that Mr Muhammad-Haroon was a Canadian citizen. "His parents will see him at court," she added.
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