#10yearschallenge: Pindi police reunite lost son with father after a decade

Ali was found on the streets of Karachi after he had fled his Jhelum home in search of his mother

RAWALPINDI: As people post their past and current pictures online as part of the “#10yearchallenge” to illustrate the difference a decade makes, the special branch of the Rawalpindi police has done the challenge in a rather unique manner: recovering a boy who had been missing for the past 10 years.

The Rawalpindi Special Branch DSP Tahir Anis told The Express Tribune that, Ali Haider had left his home in search of his mother, who had separated from his father, around 10 years ago.

Ali was just ten-years-old then when he left and travelled to Lahore.

Far from home and quite young, he was kept at a cattle pen in Sargodha by some influential people. He was treated as a labourer for four years during which time he was told to look after some 120 buffaloes.

Ali told the police that he was provided with food and a place to sleep but not paid any wages.

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DSP Anis said that a watchman at the cattle pen finally helped Ali escape.

By that time Ali was 14-years-old and decided to restart the search for his mother. He journeyed to Karachi where he spent the next six years living on sidewalks.

He worked as a labourer at various places but instead of wages, he was only provided with food.

After an unidentified man heard Ali’s story that his father’s name was Ghulam Hussain who lived on the banks of the Jhelum River, he immediately contacted the Rawalpindi Special Branch.

On the tip-off, Inspector Muhammad Nawaz and ASI Anwar Raza spoke to a local councillor in Jhelum.

“To find a certain man along the bank of river Jhelum was in itself a very difficult task but they [police officers] discussed the matter with the residents and local representatives,” DSP Anis said.

The Special Branch Teams, though, managed to trace Ali’s father and worked to reunite them.

Hussain said that he had been searching for his son for the last ten years and when he was told by the police that his son was alive and had been found, he broke down in tears of joy.

At Special Branch Office On Saturday, under the supervision of SSP Khurram Shahzad, DSP Anis brought the father and son together for the first time in a decade.

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Hussain, on seeing his son, started bawling loudly and the father and son embraced each other warmly.

Over the past 10 years, Hussain said, he had searched every nook and corner to find his son but always returned empty-handed.

He conceded that after a while he got disheartened and started believing that Ali may never be found. But it was a miracle that the police had managed to trace his son and reunited him with his family.

Ali, who is now 20-years-old, told The Express Tribune that when the police officers found him and told him that he was going home, he could not believe it.

Later, Ghulam and Ali returned to their home in Jhelum.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 20^th, 2019.