Karachi police on Saturday claimed to have arrested two suspects, including a man allegedly involved in the assault of 100 boys over the past 25 years.

Officials, citing lab findings, said the boys were lured and kidnapped between 2000 and 2025, and subjected to criminal assault, mostly in the Malir Nadi (riverbed) area.

East Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Investigation Muhammad Usman Sadozai told Dawn that the police had received a laboratory report on “seven or eight cases of sodomy involving boys” that occurred between 2000 and 2025.

The medical reports confirmed that the same person was involved in these cases, as his DNA matched the samples, the SSP said.

“The story of all sodomy cases was the same,” said SSP Sadozai.

He explained that the suspect used to kidnap minors aged between 10 and 14 years from different parts of Karachi between 6pm. and 12am.

The suspect would then take the boy on a motorcycle and subject him to criminal assault in Malir Nadi, before dropping him back at the same location where he was picked up, the SSP elaborated.

“We are all working on this case.”

In a statement issued by his office, Sindh IG Javed Akhtar Odho ordered that the held suspects be interrogated and all perpetrators involved be brought to justice.

Karachi Additional IG Azad Khan, in a statement, termed the protection of children as the top priority and vowed the “strictest punishment under the law for the elements involved in such a heinous act”.

The officer also announced appreciation certificates and a cash reward for the police team that made the arrest.

Registered FIRs

The seven sexual assault cases probed as of yet had taken place in Sharafi Goth, Zaman Town, Korangi Industrial Area, Mehmoodabad and three in Defence.

All seven first information reports (FIRs) invoked Section 377 (unnatural offences against any man, woman or animal) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and were filed over the past five years, according to an order for the formation of the probe team dated January 6.

One FIR each from the Defence (2025), Korangi Industrial Area (2024) and Zaman Town (2024) police stations only mentioned Section 377, while a 2020 case filed at Sharafi Goth also invoked Section 506-B (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the PPC.

A 2022 FIR registered in Defence was filed under Sections 337-A(i) (punishment of causing injury on head or face), 337-F(i) (punishment of causing skin to rupture and bleed), 337-F(vi) (punishment of fracturing and dislocating a bone), 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) and 377 of the PPC.

Another one filed with the Defence police in 2025 invoked Sections 364 and 377, while an FIR registered last year at Mehmoodabad police station mentioned Sections 377 and 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences) of the PPC.

Investigation team

Meanwhile, Karachi Additional IG Azad Khan set up an investigation team under the supervision of Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) Deputy IG Muqaddus Haider for further investigation into the assault cases.

Other members of the probe team include SSP Sadozai, Malir Investigation SSP Asif Raza, Korangi Investigation SSP Qais Khan and South Investigation SSP Syed Ali Hassan.

The probe team was directed to ensure that concrete efforts are made to identify and arrest the suspects involved in the incidents and to complete the investigation in all aspects with convincing evidence.

The team can also co-opt any officer from within the Karachi range to assist in the probe as per the city police order. The team was instructed to submit a progress report on a daily basis.

Child abuse unacceptable: CM Murad

In a statement issued on the matter, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah warned that he would not tolerate any child abuse cases.

Hailing the police efforts in arresting the suspect involved “in the abuse of over 100 children”, CM Murad termed it a “major success”.

“Only seven victims have come forward so far. The police should locate the rest of the victims as well,” the statement quoted him as saying.

The Sindh CM directed the AIG to take the case to court based on evidence and also sought progress reports on a daily basis.

“Abuse against children is unacceptable for the Sindh government,” he stated.

Asserting that the provincial government had taken “many steps” to protect children, CM Murad said there was “no space for any beast in the city”.

In September 2025, a judicial magistrate in Karachi recorded the confessional statement of a suspected serial rapist in six cases pertaining to sexual assaults of underage girls.

The prosecution said the suspect was arrested from Qayyumabad on September 11, when the matter came to the authorities’ attention after one of his alleged victims managed to obtain a USB drive from the suspect and took it to a video shop.

The shop owner detected the presence of explicit content on the drive and informed area residents, who apprehended the suspect and beat him up before handing him over to the police.

Later the same month, two men in Karachi confessed before magistrates to raping a seven-year-old boy and murdering him.