Two siblings’ bodies recovered in Mirpur canal, search for third child called off

In Mirpur, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the bodies of two siblings were recovered from the Khari Sharif canal on Thursday, while the search for their third sibling was called off, a rescue official revealed. District Emergency Officer Sardar Najam Sadozai confirmed that rescue divers were pursuing an operation to retrieve the third child's body; however, they ceased the search without success.

The Khari Sharif canal, which originates from the Jhelum River, straddles the border between AJK’s Mirpur and Punjab’s Jhelum district. Police arrested a man for allegedly discarding his three children—two daughters and a son—into the canal. Preliminary investigations suggest the suspect was an addict with a strained relationship with his wife, who had relocated to her parents' home.

According to DPO Shafiq Chaudhry, the police are probing the suspect from every angle to determine the events leading to the children's disappearance. The suspect reportedly took his three children "for an outing" but failed to return. His wife alerted the police when they did not reappear. The police registered a First Information Report (FIR) under Section 363 of the Pakistan Penal Code. On September 15, 2026, around 6pm, the complainant and her brother took the children to Pir Bhechan Darbar for a visit.

Upon returning, the brother parked the vehicle near a bakery on Mangla Road in Dina, while the complainant bought items for the children. Unbeknownst to her, the suspect, accompanied by two others, approached the parked vehicle, claiming he was heading to the City Housing Society with the children to a park. The brother handed over the children to Zeeshan, prompting the mother and brother to search for the missing children but to no avail.