LAHORE: The four girls, who were kidnapped in Hanjarwal area of Lahore on July 30, were recovered by police from Sahiwal on Wednesday.

A joint team of Sahiwal district police and the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) recovered the girls in a raid on a house in Sahiwal.

The police also arrested the six suspects, including a rickshaw driver and two women, for their alleged involvement in the kidnapping.

Sahiwal District Police Officer (DPO) Kashif Aslam told the media that the girls were brought from Lahore by a rickshaw driver, Qasim Ali. He said Qasim, a resident of Nai Abadi, Sahiwal, had been driving rickshaw in Lahore for the last many years.

Six suspects, including two women, arrested

The DPO said the police found no apparent evidence of sexual violence against the girls.

“The police were investigating into the matter to find out the motive behind the kidnapping of the girls from Lahore”, he said, adding that the girls and the suspects had been handed over to the Lahore police for further action.

The Hanjarwal police had lodged a case of kidnapping of four girls, who allegedly left their house to visit the Orange Line Metro Train on July 30 but didn’t return.

Complainant Irfan Ali of Mohalla Nambardaran stated in the FIR that his daughters -- Anam, 10, and Kinza, 11, along with the daughters of his neighbour Akram -- Pinki, 14, and Aysha, 8 -- might have been kidnapped by some unknown persons.

A police official from Lahore said Anam and her sister Kinza told police that they had left their home because of the harsh behaviour and taunts of their drug addict father over petty domestic issues, while their neighbour’s daughters accompanied them to have fun.

He said as the girls left their home, a rickshaw driver picked them and later dropped them near a housing society in Johar Town. Later, another rickshaw driver picked the girls and brought them to his native Sahiwal district, the police official said.

The Punjab chief minister had taken notice of the incident and directed the provincial police chief to recover them as soon as possible.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2021