Forensic board to probe Sarim's alleged murder

KARACHI: A forensic board to be constituted to probe the alleged murder of 7-year-old Sarim, who was kidnapped in North Karachi, ARY News reported.

According to the investigation officials, eight suspects, including a watchman, three apartment guards, a neighbor, and a Qari, were released after DNA tests did not match.

The suspects were detained for questioning but were released on the condition that they would not leave the city. The investigation team has now decided to form a forensic board to further investigate the case.

According to police officials, the forensic experts’ report will be crucial in to get conclusive outcome.

The investigation into the murder of Sarim, a seven-year-old boy who was found dead in a water tank 11 days after he went missing from North Karachi, earlier came to standstill as the DNA samples collected from 25 suspects did not match.

The DNA samples collected from the suspects and the crime scene do not match, leaving the investigators with no significant leads.

According to investigators, the victim’s body was found in a state of decomposition, which compromised the DNA evidence collected from the scene. The degraded DNA has hindered the matching process, making it challenging for investigators to identify the perpetrator.

Prior to this, the police taken four more individuals into custody from the apartment in connection with the case and collected DNA samples from them. The investigation team is now exploring other avenues to crack the case.

Meanwhile, a new team was formed to investigate a high-profile case in Karachi, comprising an SSP and four SHOs. This team will work alongside the existing investigation team to assist in the inquiry. Their responsibilities will include interviewing all suspects in the case.

It is worth noting here that the post-mortem report reportedly confirmed that Sarim was raped, tortured and murdered after being kidnapped.

As per the medical report, Sarim was strangled to death and his neck was broken while there were also multiple injury marks on the minor boy’s body.

A Karachi police official stated that the child was murdered five days before his body was discovered in the water tank .However, sources said that the special investigation committee found several contrasting facts in the circumstantial evidence and the post-mortem report.