Despite intensified efforts, police have yet to recover two young boys who were reportedly kidnapped from the Garden area six days ago. Authorities are now relying on newly obtained but unclear CCTV footage showing a man and woman on a motorcycle taking the children.
The footage, while pivotal, lacks sufficient clarity to identify the culprits or the motorcycle’s registration number. Parents of the missing children have expressed frustration, urging law enforcement to expand their investigation beyond the Garden Police jurisdiction and involve other city forces, Rangers, and intelligence agencies to expedite the recovery.
“This is the eighth day since our children went missing. If these were the children of affluent families, the entire force would have been deployed to find them,” the tearful mothers told The News.
The families, residing in modest homes in Garden West, include a watchman and a scrap dealer. The missing boys, aged four and six, were last seen playing outside their homes in broad daylight, an area surrounded by mechanics’ shops. One of the mothers stated that she had educated her son about good and bad touch, and he was known to respond immediately to danger. However, she questioned how her child could have been taken so easily without any resistance.
When questioned, District City SSP Arif Aziz said that while the CCTV footage is unclear, the families believe the boys seen on the motorcycle are their children. “The question isn’t whether those were the children or not; the focus is on tracing that motorcycle, which is now a key suspect,” SSP Aziz stated. He added, “What puzzles us is that the children appear calm in the footage, which suggests the culprits could be familiar to them, although the families deny this possibility.”
The SSP highlighted the extensive efforts being made, including deploying police from various districts for raids and search operations across the city, from Korangi to Lyari. “Seven SHOs and two DSPs are leading the operations today, and we are committed to bringing the children back safely,” he added. Police have detained multiple suspects for questioning but have so far found no leads. SSP Aziz confirmed that 17 suspects were initially detained, followed by 19 more, and then two additional individuals, but all were released due to lack of evidence.
Published in News Daily on 22 January 2025.
