ISLAMABAD, Nov 30: A six-year-old Afghan boy, Ezzatullah, who went missing in the city on Tuesday after being hit by a Land Cruiser, was found lying dead in the abandoned vehicle in the early hours of Thursday.

Ezzatullah’s friends had seen him being picked up by the occupants of the Land Cruiser after the accident. The vehicle bore a government number plate and was being driven by a woman.

Little Ezzatullah was visiting his grandfather Habibullah from Peshawar when he met the fatal accident around 4 pm in G- 9/4, very close to his grandfather’s house. After a search for him by relatives proved futile, Habibullah reported the incident to the Margalla police station around 8pm on Tuesday.

Police said they found the Land Cruiser abandoned near the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) about 1:30am on Thursday and inside lay Ezzatullah dead.

The Land Cruiser, bearing number GP-2087, belonged to the Ministry of Housing and Works. A government employee had reported to police late Wednesday that the vehicle had been missing along with its driver Tariq Mahmood.

But Dawn has learnt that Tariq Mahmood was on leave on Tuesday, the day the fatal accident involving the vehicle took place.

A source close to police investigations said Tariq had handed the keys of the vehicle over to another driver, identified as JH, who was on duty on Tuesday.

JH’s wife runs a canteen in H-8 and is believed to be driving the hit-and-run Land Cruiser. Police hope to arrest the suspect couple “within next 24 hours”.

Meanwhile, Margalla police Thursday registered an FIR of the accident on the complaint of grandfather of the killed boy. In his complaint, Habibullah told the police that a vehicle driven by an unidentified woman hit his grandson.

A blue revolving light, national flag and some leftovers of pulses were recovered from the vehicle. The body of Ezzatullah was covered in a sheet of cloth.

MAN SHOT DEAD: A man was Thursday shot dead by unknown people in the jurisdiction of Saddar Bairooni police station. The man is yet to be identified. No further details were available about the incident.