Almost seven days have elapsed since six-year-old Sk Sajjan Hossain went missing from Malipara, off Garden Reach, in the southern part of the city, but hardly any progress has been made in the case.

On Thursday, police detained two close relatives of the boy for interrogation. The family members said they were expecting the child?s return any moment. Both local police and district police officers, however, maintained silence on the issue.

It is suspected that Sajjan was kidnapped to settle a score with the family. According to some family members, a business rivalry had led to the abduction.

The child was picked up from the courtyard of the family?s residence last Friday. Immediately after his disappearance, his father Javir received a call asking for Rs 25 lakh as ransom. The demand was scaled down to Rs 4 lakh by Tuesday.

Javir, who runs tailoring shops in the area, did not initially inform the police. A missing diary was lodged at Rabindranagar police station four days after the incident.

?I did not go to police earlier because I thought the matter would be resolved amicably. When my son did not return after four days, I lodged the diary,? he said.

Family members said Javir is still trying to reach a settlement with the kidnappers and has already made some payment. The kidnappers have been calling on his mobile phone and have not revealed where they have kept the child.

?I have received several calls on my mobile phone. Although the kidnappers are Bengali, they are speaking in broken Hindi. They are not allowing my child to come close to the phone. I hope he returns soon,? stated Javir.

He admitted that he had paid the kidnappers, but refused to divulge the amount. ?Let my child come back and I shall provide all the information,? Javir added.

Police are keeping a track of the numbers from which the calls were made. A senior district police officer said that two of Sajjan?s uncles have been detained. ?We hope to get leads from the duo. We have already obtained some vital clues,? he added.

Local CPM legislator Mursalin Mollah had set Thursday as the deadline for the police to trace the boy. ?We have given the police enough time, but they have not made much progress,? said the MLA.

Deputy inspector-general of police (Presidency range) H.P. Singh said a team, under the leadership of South 24-Parganas superintendent of police S.N. Gupta, were looking for the boy.