Sarim: Missing Karachi boy found dead from water tank

KARACHI: The body of seven-year-old Sarim, who had been missing for 11 days in mysterious manner, is found from an underground water tank near his residence in North Karachi, ARY News reported citing police.

The water tank’s lid was covered with a carton, the police said and added they are are now investigating whether the boy fell into the tank accidentally or was pushed.

The child’s body has been shifted to the hospital and the cause of death will be ascertained  after the postmortem, the police added.

Sarim’s family had filed a missing person’s report, fearing abduction, after he failed to return from a nearby madrasa on January 7.

The police remained clueless and kept searching for the boy who went missing from the North Karachi area. The authorities had conducted an extensive search operation in the apartment complex, searching all 212 flats and checking the building’s four water tanks.

However, the power outage during the time of the incident has hindered the investigation, as the CCTV footage from that time was unavailable. The police investigated various aspects of the case and tried to obtain CCTV footage from surrounding areas.

The father of the child received some suspicious calls and messages from unknown numbers, with some demanding the online transfer of money and one caller asking for the child’s picture. He sent a picture to that number which went switched off.

Later, the father of 7-year-old Sarim, a madrassa student, received a ransom message demanding Rs 5 lakh whereas the case was transferred to the AVCC (Anti-Violent Crime Cell).

Speaking to ARY News, Sarim’s mother had tearfully appealed, saying, “Whoever has taken my son, please return him.”

She added that both her sons went to the madrasa together, but only the elder one came back. The family also noted that while the apartment complex has CCTV cameras installed, they were non-operational at the time due to a power outage.