Karachi police form team to trace 'gangs' involved in child kidnapping

• Karachi police chief Odho forms five-member team.
• Team directed to trace gangs involved in kidnapping.
• Committee also asked to submit progress report by Feb 3.
  

KARACHI: As the kidnapping of three children sent ripples of concern among citizens, the Karachi police on Friday constituted a team under supervision of the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Crime Investigation Agency (CIA), to trace the gangs involved in such incidents.

"A team under the supervision of DIG CIA Karachi, Muqaddas Haider, comprising following officers is constituted to work out the accused/gangs active in kidnapping of children," stated a notification issued by Karachi police chief Javed Alam Odho.

The committee comprises Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) South Mahzoor Ali, SSP Investigation West Arab Mahar, SSP Anti Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) Anil Haider and SSP Investigation Korangi Qais Khan.

"The team shall ensure that concrete efforts are made to trace the gang involved in kidnapping of children," it stated.  

The team has been directed to interrogate the accused arrested in "cases FIR No 41/2025 u/s 364-A/511/34 PPC of PS Peerabad and FIR No 34/2025 u/s 364-A PPC of PS Saudabad, thoroughly and make sincere efforts to trace and arrest the all involved accused".

The Karachi police chief has directed the committee chairman to submit progress report by February 3, 2025.

The development came after three minor boys were kidnapped within a week in the country's financial hub, forcing the Sindh chief minister to order police to take practical measures for their immediate recovery.  

Seven-year-old Mohammed Sarim was allegedly abducted on January 7 from North Karachi Sector 5 within the limits of the Bilal Colony police station.  

However, the suspect's body was recovered later from an underground water tank of his apartment building with the postmortem examination confirming that the minor boy was raped before being strangled to death.  

Sarim's abduction was followed by another worrisome incident with two more children — five-year-old Aliyan and six-year-old Ali Raza — going missing while playing outside their homes in the city's Garden locality.

An FIR was registered on the complaint of Aliyan mother Zainab, wife of Younis who informed the police that she worked at a gym and found her son missing when she returned home.

CCTV footage revealed two suspects, a man and a woman, taking the children towards Lyari on a motorcycle. However, the footage's poor quality has hindered clear identification.

A five-member committee led by SSP City Arif Aziz was formed to expedite the investigation. Efforts included geofencing the area and conducting multiple search operations in Garden and Lyari. Despite these measures, no significant leads have emerged yet.