LAHORE / LONDON: In the wake of the mysterious death of 10-year-old Sara Sharif in England earlier this month, the Jhelum police teams are intensively searching for her family, including prime suspect Malik Urfan Sharif, the girl’s father, officials said.

Police teams have carried out frequent raids at all the possible hideouts, including in Mr Sharif’s hometown, Dena in Jhelum; in Sara’s mother’s hometown, Mirpur in Azad Jammu and Kashmir; and in Sialkot, where close relatives of the suspects live.

However, police said the family remained elusive, with Mr Sharif taking extra precautions to avoid detection. Officials said the suspected family might have gone underground somewhere in some other province.

Jhelum DPO Nasir Mahmood Bajwa, however, hoped on Sunday that the prime suspect would be arrested within 24 hours.

Police conduct raids in hometowns of Sara’s parents; girl’s grandfather appeals son to come forward

The body of Sara Sharif, daughter of Olga Sharif and 31-year-old Malik Urfan Sharif, was found in a Woking council house belonging to Mr Sharif, a local taxi driver, in the early hours of Aug 10. Police said no other people were found at the property when the body was discovered.

The discovery of the minor’s body prompted a murder investigation, with the police launching a hunt for the three suspects, including Sara’s father, in connection with the probe.

The London police were told that the suspects had spent thousands of pounds on one-way air tickets to escape to Pakistan. The Interpol alerted the Pakistani police authorities to help trace the suspects.

Hot pursuit

Rawalpindi Regional Police Officer Syed Khurram Ali Shah told Dawn the police teams were on hot pursuit of the suspects and trying hard to trace the possible hideouts of the suspected family.

He said the police obtained the video footage of the immigration counter of Islamabad airport and found Mr Sharif, his wife and children arrived there on Aug 9.

Later, they left the airport premises but the footage of the CCTV cameras installed outside it was unclear as to what kind of transport they used to reach their destination.

A police source said the police picked up the maternal uncle and brother of the prime suspect for questioning but they were unsure about Mr Sharif’s location and his other family members.

Mr Shah said he dispatched a police team to Mirpur based on information obtained from Mr Sharif’s brother when he told them that Mr Sharif’s wife hailed from Mirpur.

The police raided the house in Mirpur with the coordination of the local police and could not find the suspected family there, Mr Shah said, adding that the police also raided homes of some close relatives of the prime suspect in Sialkot but to no avail.

The official source said the prime suspect seemed so clever that he neither used the local sim nor contacted his relatives by other means, as he might have been alerted that the police were vigorously pursuing him and his family in the wake of the alleged murder of his minor daughter.

Appeal by Urfan’s father

Meanwhile, Urfan Sharif’s father has appealed to his son to come forward and speak to the police.

Speaking to The Sunday Times, Muhammad Sharif, 68, urged his son to come forward. “We want them to present themselves,” he said. “We want to resolve the matter as the privacy of our house is affected due to frequent police raids.”

He said his son had not informed him of Sara’s death when he briefly visited them in Jhelum after their arrival in Islamabad.

On Sunday, news reports said police in Pakistan were tracking a mobile phone SIM believed to be that of Urfan Sharif.

Ilyas Sadiq in Jhelum also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2023