RAWALPINDI: Police investigation into the alleged kidnapping of a girl, who had served as a member of a polio team, for ransom took a new turn after it emerged that she travelled to Dubai from Islamabad International Airport just a few hours after leaving her house on Tuesday.

The police investigation officer said that shortly after the kidnapping case was registered and the investigation was launched, it was revealed that the missing girl had flown to Dubai on the same day, December 30, 2025, from Islamabad International Airport.

“Yes, we have obtained the travel history of the missing girl, which showed that she travelled to Dubai from Islamabad Airport on the same day when she left her house in the morning saying that she was going to a pharmacy, but she did not return,” the police investigation officer told Dawn.

He said that although it had come to light that she went willingly, the police would not stop the investigation and would follow the due process, which included bringing her back by obtaining red notices from Interpol. The missing girl, 22, had been associated with a polio team along with her younger sister in the recent past, but she had not hinted at any such plan or any domestic issue.

He said she had a close friend living in Lahore who hinted to the police that she might have travelled abroad, which helped investigators obtain her travel history. “Yes, her friend’s clue helped the police get her travel history,” the officer said, adding: “She left her house at 10:30am and took the flight within a few hours, at about 12:15pm.”

The police are trying to obtain CCTV footage from the surroundings of her house and nearby shops and are also collecting her cellphone data.

The brother of the allegedly kidnapped girl, a resident of New Afzal Town, lodged an FIR with the Chaklala Police Station, stating that his 22-year-old sister left home for a pharmacy at about 10am on Tuesday.

He said that after she left the house and her cellphone was found switched off, he started searching for her but could not find any clue until midnight.

When contacted, the complainant told Dawn that he had no knowledge of where his sister was now. He said she was not a working woman; however, she had served as a member of a polio vaccination team along with her younger sister.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2026