RAWALPINDI: The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Interpol wing has issued yellow notices for locating two young girls who have been missing since Oct 2016.

The capital police have also sought help from their counterparts in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Sindh in tracing the two girls, who are cousins and lived near Zia Masjid, in the limits of the Khanna police station. Police from other provinces have been asked to provide a record of unidentified bodies which were either buried or kept in mortuaries since 2016.

Since the two girls- 17-year-old Samia and 16-year-old Hadeeba Ashraf- went missing from their homes, their parents and relatives had launched door-to-door searches and finally lodged an FIR for their kidnapping on Dec 16, 2016. Since then, the police have also been searching for the girls.

The two cousins left their homes in Oct 2016 with their parents permission and have been missing since

Issued by Interpol, a yellow notice is a global alert to help locate a missing person or to check if they have travelled abroad or were forcibly taken out of the country, or for an unexplained disappearance.

When contacted, Senior Superintendent of Police Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) Ashraf Shah told Dawn that the two girls have been missing since Oct 17, 2016 after they left their homes to go somewhere, and that they had told their parents where they were going.

The SP said the police has been searching for the two girls and have also sought FIA’s help in this regard.

He said it has been confirmed that the two girls did not travel abroad and that they may still be in the country.

He said the police have obtained some important clues with the help of geo-fencing and may be able to track them down soon.

The SP said the girls did not leave any letter for their families before leaving.

In a letter from the Inspector General of Police Islamabad, the police have sought help from the inspectors general of police Punjab, KP, Sindh and Balochistan to help in tracing the two girls.

In the letter, the IGP says hectic efforts are being undertaken to track the missing girls down and has requested his colleagues to provide a record of unidentified bodies in their jurisdiction.

Airports across the country have also been alerted.

Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2018