Search continues for missing five-year-old

Rescue operation stretched to eight kilometres as police investigate kidnapping case

RAWALPINDI:

Rescue teams and police continued efforts for a second day on Friday to trace five-year-old Maryam Umair, who mysteriously disappeared near Committee Chowk's Landa Bazaar during Thursday morning's rain.

Rescue 1122 completed its second-day search operation, while Waris Khan police continued investigating after registering a kidnapping case on the complaint of the child's father.

Authorities have yet to determine whether the girl was abducted or swept away by rainwater. Her mother has expressed suspicion that the child was kidnapped.

According to details, Maryam disappeared while returning from her maternal grandfather's house with her parents and siblings.

Rescue 1122 resumed its search early Friday morning. On Thursday, rescuers searched a four-kilometre stretch from the scene to the Moti Mahal bridge. On Friday, the operation was expanded to an eight-kilometre area up to the rear of Al-Shifa Eye Hospital on GT Road, while searches also continued around the place where the child went missing.

Police, accompanied by the child's parents and relatives, conducted an extensive door-to-door search in the streets of Landa Bazaar and nearby commercial buildings but failed to locate her.

District Emergency Officer Engineer Sibghatullah said water rescue teams carried out boat searches, line searches and searches along the banks from Gawalmandi to the rear of Al-Shifa Eye Hospital, covering eight kilometres. Despite all efforts, the child could not be found. The operation was temporarily suspended after dark and will resume early Saturday morning.

Police and rescue officials have obtained CCTV footage showing Maryam leaving the house with her parents and walking towards a vehicle. In the footage, the girl, wearing a yellow shirt, can be seen playing with her siblings and cousins as they walk through the street.

The footage shows the children first stepping out into a narrow lane and then returning under a covered area after noticing it was raining. A short while later, Maryam and her sister walked out on foot, while her father carried her brother. Other family members followed them.

Police said this is the only CCTV footage available, as other cameras in the area were not functioning. Investigators are also using the footage in their efforts to trace the child.