Pakistan cops set to arrest Sara Sharif’s dad in HOURS as they track fugitive’s phone after girl, 10, dies at home
COPS in Pakistan are set to arrest Sara Sharif’s dad in hours as they track his phone following the death of the young girl.
A senior officer has said they are closing in on Urfan Sharif, Beinash Batool, his partner, and his brother Faisal Malik.
All three left the UK after the 10-year-old tragically died.
The police chief in the family’s hometown of Jhelum, Nasir Baiwa, said yesterday: “With God’s will we will make the arrest by tomorrow night.”
He said that teams of officers who were working on the case are finding it painful because “a little child has met a brutal death”.
The Pakistani police revealed yesterday they are closing in on the trio after they identified an active Pakistani SIM card registered in Sharif’s name.
The SIM card had been used recently in Jhelum, police said.
Khurram Ali, a senior police official in Rawalpindi, who is leading the manhunt for the three, said: “We have traced a mobile phone SIM card which is registered under the name of Urfan Sharif and is being actively used by someone in Jhelum.”
Sharif, 41, Malik, 28, and Batool, 29, took a flight to Islamabad on August 9, the day before Sara’s body was discovered at her home in Woking, Surrey.
Her dad called police in Britain from Pakistan to report her death.
Mr Baiwa said his teams of officers were working “day and night” to track down the trio who had been picked up from Islamabad airport by two of Sharif’s brothers.
They are known to have travelled the 85 miles to Jhelum.
Mr Baiwa added: “They are not in Jhelum now. They are probably nearby in Kashmir. The suspect is not giving himself up… but the picture will be clearer once we have caught him.”
It comes as Sara’s grandfather Muhammad Sharif urged her father to hand himself in, as well as Batool and Malik.
Muhammad told The Sunday Times: “We want them to present themselves.
“We want to resolve the matter as the privacy of our house is affected due to frequent police raids.”
Earlier this week it emerged that a handwritten note was found at Sara’s home and it is said to have been written by a relative and claims the youngster was battered to death.
The note reportedly states: “Who ever sees this, it was [name] who killed [Sara] by beating. I am running away because I am scared.”
It was said to be scrawled by a family member, scribbled in large letters on lined paper.
The alleged memo was reportedly thought to be left for police to find.
The mum of a pupil attending St Mary’s Primary, in Byfleet, Surrey, has claimed Sara turned up with “cuts and bruises” just before she left the school in April.
Her mum Olga Sharif, 36, who lives in Yeovil, Somerset, said earlier this week: “I will never have closure until I know what has happened and why. He can’t hide away for ever.”