Two missing children found dead in stream

Distraught families had reported them missing on Oct 23

ISLAMABAD: Two children, who had gone missing on October 23, were found dead in a stream late on Thursday night. Nine-year-old Shahzaib and 10-year-old Haris had gone missing from Sharifabad in Koral police jurisdiction.

Initial reports suggest they had drowned while playing, as no torture marks or wounds were visible, said a police official.



Police said both the children were relatives and their families had gathered at their common relatives’ house in Sharifabad the day they went missing.

While the families suspected that the children were kidnapped and later murdered, the police have ruled out the possibility of murder, saying both had drowned in a seasonal stream. A homicide investigator said no mark was found on the bodies which could suggest they were harmed or tortured.

Booked for murder

Islamabad police have booked at least two retired army colonels and several others for allegedly murdering a woman and attempting to grab locals’ land in Islamabad.

Maroof Bibi was killed in an armed confrontation between the said retired army men and residents of Kanyal village near Model Town Humak on Wednesday, within the remits of Sihala Police Station.

The retired officers have also lodged an FIR against seven persons for allegedly firing and injuring them and stealing some material.

Sihala SHO inspector Abdul Ghafoor said no arrest had been made in either case.

Tariq Mehmood, the victim’s spouse, told the police that Colonel (retd) Wasim, Colonel (retd) Khalil, Gul Zaman and Bashir Alam, and others comprising 16-17 people trespassed into his land near Model Town Humak on October 25 in order to grab his property.

Mehmood says when his relatives and wife tried to stop the group, who were armed with Kalashnikovs, rifle and pistol, they beat them and opened fire.

“When my wife Maroof bibi made a noise and protested against the attempt to grab our land, Colonel (retd) Wasim shot straight at her. The fire hit her around abdomen. Meanwhile, Colonel (retd) Khalil of Bahria Town fired at her which hit her in chest,” Mehmood maintained in his application to the police.



After firing, people from the village gathered upon which the other group escaped leaving behind their tractor and construction material they had brought along. The woman died on her way to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, as per the FIR registered at Sihala Police Station. “They want to grab mine and my relatives’ land forcibly,” Mehmood maintained in his application.

Police have registered a murder, trespass and rioting case against the suspects.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2017.