The police initiated an investigation into the matter after three children were reported kidnapped from the Khan Garh area on December 8, he added.

Fayyaz Hussain, the father of the two children, filed a first information report at the Khan Garh police station in which he accused his cousin Mohammad Bilal of abducting his 7-year-old son Ali Hasan, 18-month-old daughter Hafsa, and 3-year-old nephew Mohammad Abdullah from Gera Wahan area of the district.

“Despite a passerby asking Bilal to stop, he left without responding to the calls, he added.

DPO Haider said that the police arrested the suspect on December 11 and began interrogating him.

During the interrogation, Bilal revealed the site where he dumped the remains of Hasan and Hafsa, after which the police recovered the remains of the victims, he added.

Meanwhile, the police recovered one of the children Abdullah on information provided by the locals.

Reports had claimed that the suspect slaughtered the victims and ate them; however, DPO Haider said that the police had not found any evidence to support the claims.

He went on to add that the remains of the victims will be sent for forensic examinations while police have added a section related to murder in the FIR.

While the victim’s father mentioned the suspect as his cousin, the police said that they have not yet found the motives behind the gruesome murders.

Fayyaz Hussain’s elder brother told the media that suspect Bilal was seen taking the three children on a motorcycle after which they initiated a search for them.

“On the fourth day, a man came and said that he found a kid. He asked us to go with him to bring the children where the suspect was holding him,” he said.

According to him, the kid was in a state of shock for three days and could not say anything about his ordeal.