The body of seven-year-old Mohammed Sarim was found in the underground water tank of his apartment complex, according to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Central.
Speaking to the media on Saturday, the top police officer said that the child’s body had been sent for postmortem; however, it seemed that Sarim had fallen in the tank accidentally.
The unfortunate development comes as Sarim went missing 11 days ago on January 7 from North Karachi Sector 5 within the limits of the Bilal Colony police station.
A First Information Report (FIR) was lodged under 364-A (kidnapping or abducting a person under the age of 14) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
Meanwhile, the seven-year-old’s parents had previously claimed to have received a message from an international number demanding ransom from them.
“For the past two days, my wife has been receiving messages stating that if we want the child back, we have to pay Rs500,000,” said Sarim’s father, The News reported.
The number, as per the father’s statement on Tuesday, was from a Middle Eastern country.
Speaking to the media, SSP Investigation Central Kunwar Asif said that a search was carried out of the building’s four water tanks previously.
However, they were informed of a body in the tank by the wallman today, said the police officer, adding that he had not been arrested.
Kunwar also said that the incident seemed accidental.
Commenting on the seven-year-old’s parents’ claim of receiving a message from an international number demanding ransom, Asif said that the message concerned was a fake one which the parents had mistakenly interpreted.
Contrasting to the police officials’ claim of the incident being an accident, a resident, while speaking to Geo News said that Sarim did not fall in the tank accidentally.
The tank from where the body has been found, he added, was searched by him, rescue workers, and the flat’s union members previously.
“It seems that the child’s body was ‘placed’ inside the tank. Whoever did this knew exactly about the 30-min electricity outage window,” he remarked.
Sarim’s disappearance was followed by another kidnapping incident involving five-year-old Aliyan and six-year-old Ali Raza from the city’s Garden area.
Incidents of children going missing raised alarm bells among the city’s residents with Sindh Inspector General Police (IGP) Ghulam Nabi constituting a special unit for missing children.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah also took notice of the incident directing the Karachi Police to immediately recover the children and submit a report.
