KARACHI: Two minor brothers were found dead four days after they went missing from their New Karachi home, officials said on Saturday.

They said that the boys were missing for the past four days and their family had lodged a kidnapping case against unknown persons at the New Karachi police station.

They added that the bodies of the boys were found from a graveyard within the remit of the New Karachi Industrial Area police late on Friday night. The partially decomposed bodies were placed in open graves.

Police take into custody two suspects and claim that they killed the boys over personal enmity

The bodies were identified as Azan, 8, and Ali Raza, 10, with the help of their clothes, said New Karachi SHO Tahir Husain.

The corpses were shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities.

Police Surgeon Dr Qarar Ahmed Abbasi said that it appeared that the bodies had lain there for around four days.

There were wounds on the neck and face apparently caused by a sharp-edged weapon or a knife. They were slaughtered to death.

Dr Abbasi said that samples had been taken for a chemical and DNA test.

Two held for brothers’ kidnap, murder

On Saturday, the police arrested two brothers — Nafees and Rafiq — in connection with their alleged involvement in the kidnapping and murder of the two boys after the victims’ family expressed their suspicion about them.

The area SHO said that an initial probe revealed that the brothers were kidnapped and murdered by their relatives over some personal enmity.

He said that the victims’ father, Ilyas, had two wives. He had no children from his first wife and after a gap of 12 years he married a widow who already had two daughters.

Her first husband was the brother of the two held suspects, he said, adding that the suspects believed that she had killed their brother with the help of her current husband.

“It appears that the suspects had brutally murdered the couple’s two sons in order to take ‘revenge’ from them,” opined the SHO.

He said that a child had seen the suspects when they were fleeing after kidnapping the victim brothers from their house around four days ago.

IGP takes notice

Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police Sindh Dr Syed Kaleem Imam took notice of the kidnapping-cum-murder of the two children and sought detailed reports from the SSP Central and SSP Investigation, said a police spokesperson.

He said that the investigation should be carried out in an impartial manner and be made result-oriented keeping in view details mentioned in the FIR.

The IGP also asked the officers to explain what steps were taken by police after kidnapping of the children.

He also directed the police officers to visit the victims’ home and express regrets over their loss.

He also issued directions for taking concrete and coordinated steps against all suspects involved in the double murder case.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2019