• Police say man, woman on motorcycle took away two children in Garden
• No clue to seven-year-old Sarim, abducted last week from North Karachi
• SHO says family received ransom calls on WhatsApp
• Murad asks city police to ensure their immediate recovery

KARACHI: While police have failed to recover a minor boy kidnapped over a week ago in North Karachi, the kidnapping of two more children has sent ripples of concern among people, forcing the Sindh chief minister to order police to take practical measures for their immediate recovery.

The CM not only ordered the Karachi police chief to remain in touch with the victims’ parents and ensure immediate recovery, he also directed him to increase patrolling across the metropolis.

On January 7, seven-year-old Mohammed Sarim had gone to a madressah from his home in North Karachi but did not return. His family first lodged a missing report and then an FIR was lodged under Section 364-A (kidnapping or abducting a person under the age of 14) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Bilal Colony SHO Israr Afridi told Dawn on Wednesday that the family had received WhatsApp calls from unidentified persons, demanding a ransom for the child’s release.

After the ‘ransom call’, the police transferred the case to the Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) for investigation.

While the AVCC was investigating the case, two more children — five-year-old Aliyan, aka Ali, and six-year-old Ali Raza — went missing in the Garden locality on Tuesday and CCTV footage revealed that they had been taken away by a man and woman riding a motorbike, said DIG-South Syed Asad Raza.

He told Dawn that the two boys, both friends and neighbours, were playing on Siddiq Wahab Road in Garden West when they were abducted on Jan 14 at around 1:30pm.

The DIG said the man in the footage appeared to be a Baloch while the children also belonged to a Baloch family.

An investigation team has been formed which has visited the place of the incident and tried to locate the missing children through social media, Roshni Alert, Zara Alert and the local community.

The police also contacted rescue services to search for the missing children in the Lyari River, which is located near the site of the crime.

However, despite efforts, no significant results could be achieved so far, the DIG said, adding that investigation was ongoing with continuous efforts on locating the children and apprehending the responsible individuals.

He added that so far, the families had not received any ransom call.

The Garden police have registered an FIR under Sections 364-A of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 3 of the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act, 2018 on the complaint of Zainab Younus, the mother of Aliyan.

The woman told the police that she worked at a fitness gym in Garden. She was at work and when she came back home at 1:30pm, her son Aliyan, aka Ali, was not home.

Her husband told her that a while ago, their son had gone outside to play. In the meantime, her neighbour, Sahira Razzaq, came out from her home and informed her that her son Ali Raza had also gone outside to play but did not return. Both the mothers started a search but could not trace them.

Regarding Sarim’s case, SSP-Central Zeeshan Siddiqui told Dawn that the boy’s father, Mohsin Pervez, a generator mechanic by profession, told the police that Sarim went to a seminary on January 7 in North Karachi, Sector-5-K, but did not return till 5pm.

His wife, through the phone, informed him that Sarim had not come back so far. He rushed to home and was sent to meet the seminary teacher, who informed him that his son had left the seminary at 3:40pm.

The complainant said when he was returning, he saw his son’s gloves lying on the staircase of the mosque, which made him nervous. He traced his son in neighbourhoods and homes of relatives but could not find him.

The father said he believed that unidentified people had kidnapped his son for unknown reasons, the FIR said.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2025