Police have recovered the five children of Urfan Sharif, who fled to Pakistan after his 10-year-old daughter Sara was found dead in the UK in her father’s home during a raid on Monday.
The five children, aged between one and 13, were found in the home of Muhammad Sharif, Urfan’s father and Sara’s grandfather, in the northern city of Jhelum, 170 kilometers from Lahore.
The news comes a month after Urfan, 41, fled the UK for Pakistan with his wife and brother, along with their five children, before calling 999 from the city of Islamabad to report that his daughter was dead. at his home in Horsell, near Woking. .
Nasir Mehmood Bajwa, a district police officer, told The Guardian: “On Monday afternoon, police with a heavy contingent raided Sharif’s residence in Jhelum and recovered five children. They are healthy and in good condition.’
Police reportedly broke the locks on the front door of the house before bursting in and confiscating CCTV cameras as part of a major raid on more than 20 properties in search of the family.
Sara Sharif (pictured) was found dead and alone in her family home near Woking, Surrey, on August 10.
The five children were found in Muhammad Urfan’s house (pictured)
Pakistani police are still searching for Urfan, his wife, Beinash Batool, 29, and his brother, Faisal Malik, 28.
Muhammad Sharif previously denied knowing where the rest of Sara’s siblings were, but admitted to the BBC that he had been hiding his grandchildren in Jhelum.
He did not say how long they had been with him.
Earlier this week, Muhammad pleaded with his son to “cooperate with the police and stand up to the law.”
‘Sharing the truth is your fundamental right, it is not possible to hide things. “The more details they share, the better for them.”
Muhammad said last weekend that the family is negotiating with local politicians to surrender to official custody.
Sara was just 10 years old when she was found dead and alone in her family’s home on August 10.
Post-mortem examinations revealed that the young woman had suffered “multiple and extensive injuries.”
An inquest last month said the cause of Sara’s death was “yet to be determined” but was likely to be “unnatural”.
Sara’s mother, Olga Sharif, revealed that her injuries were so serious that she barely recognized her at the morgue.
“One of his cheeks was swollen and the other side was bruised,” he told Polish television channel TVN.
“Even now, when I close my eyes I can see what my baby looked like.”
Olga said she hopes to bury her son in her native Poland.
Urfan and Beinash were last seen in a video released last week, in which the stepmother said emotionlessly that Sara’s death “was an incident.”
An inquest in August did not determine the exact cause of death but said it was probably “unnatural.”
Sara’s body was found at her family home in Horsell, near Woking.
His family had fled the country when his body was found.
‘Our family in Pakistan is seriously affected by everything that is happening. “My main concern is that the Pakistani police will torture or kill us, that’s why we have gone into hiding,” he added.
‘All members of our family have gone into hiding because everyone fears for their safety. Children cannot attend school because they are afraid to leave home. Nobody leaves home.
‘The groceries have run out and there is no food for the children because the adults cannot leave their homes for fear of their safety. That’s why we’ve hidden.’
Beinash denied in the video that the schoolgirl fell down the stairs and broke her neck, claiming that this claim was reported by a Pakistani media outlet.
He added that the family was willing to cooperate with UK authorities and prepared to “fight our case in court”.
Surrey Police said shortly after the family video was released that it was working with Interpol, the UK Foreign Office and the National Crime Agency to determine its next steps.
MailOnline previously reported that police had arrested one of Sara’s uncles, Imran, because they were “convinced” he knew where the family was hiding.
A source said: ‘We spoke to Imran and some family members last week and they insisted that they do not know where Urfan and his family are.
“But we don’t believe them, it’s impossible that they don’t know where eight of their relatives who came from England are.” They are telling us a pack of lies.
It’s clear they have something to hide. We have caught one of them and we will interrogate him until he tells us the truth.
More to follow.
