Man charged with child abduction 2 years after fleeing Calgary

A Calgary man is in custody, facing a parental child abduction charge more than two years after police say he fled the country with his son.

Calgary police have arrested and charged a 62-year-old man with abducting his son, two years after he allegedly fled Canada with him.

Officials say Muhammad Zia-Ur Rahman is charged with one count of parental child abduction.

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On Dec. 2, 2023, Rahman is believed to have taken his five-year-old son, without permission or authority, on a trip to Montreal, where he then caught a flight to Turkiye.

Once the pair were overseas, police said they cut off all contact with the boy’s mother.

“Evidence gathered after the man left appeared to show the abduction had been extensively planned, with the suspect purchasing property overseas, acquiring new passports and relying on forged documents,” police said in a news release Tuesday.

“For the next two years, we attempted to locate the suspect, hoping to bring his son back home to his mother and siblings.”

That investigation spanned several countries as police determined the suspect was moving around with his son.

Support from RCMP, Global Affairs Canada, the Canadian Central Authority and Interpol eventually led them to make an arrest.

On Dec. 16, 2025, Rahman was located at the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport in Mauritius with his son.

He was arrested by local authorities who, in turn, contacted the Calgary Police Service.

Four days later, the boy and his mother were reunited and returned to the city together.

Rahman was extradited back to Calgary on Jan. 16, where he is expected to appear in court on Jan. 21.