JHELUM: The bodies of two siblings, who were allegedly thrown into a canal by their father in Mirpur, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, were recovered on Thursday, while the rescue operation for the third child was abandoned without recovering his body, a rescue official said.

Mirpur District Emergency Officer (DEO) Sardar Najam Sadozai said that Rescue-1122 divers were conducting an operation to recover the third child’s body from the Khari Sharif canal in Mirpur.

However, in a later update, he confirmed that rescue officials had stopped the operation without recovering the third child’s body.

The Khari Sharif canal originates from the Jhelum River and is located in the border area between AJK’s Mirpur and the Mangla Dam canal in Punjab’s Jhelum district.

Jhelum District Police Officer (DPO) Shafiq Chaudhry confirmed that police had arrested a man, for allegedly throwing his three children — two daughters and a son — into a canal in Mirpur.

According to preliminary investigations, the suspect was allegedly an addict and had an estranged relationship with his wife, who had been living at her paternal home. Further investigation was underway, DPO Chaudhry said.

“Police in Jhelum are investigating the suspect from all possible angles to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the children,” he added.

The suspect confessed to the crime after his wife raised an alarm over the disappearance of their three children, the senior police official added.

According to DPO Chaudhry, the suspect had taken his three children with him “for an outing” but did not return.

“As the suspect is also an addict, his wife became alarmed when the children did not return and informed the police,” he said.

“The Mangla police station in Jhelum district, taking notice of the complaint, took the man into custody, where he told police that he had thrown his three children into a canal of the Jhelum River,” the senior official said.

The police registered a first information report (FIR) on the complaint of the children’s mother under Section 363 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

“On September 15, 2026, at around 6pm, I, along with my brother, took the children to Pir Bhechan Darbar for a visit. On our return, my brother stopped the vehicle in front of a bakery on Mangla Road in Dina, and I went to buy some items for the children.

“While I was inside the bakery, my husband, Zeeshan, accompanied by two unidentified individuals, approached my brother’s vehicle in my absence and told him: ‘I am going to the City Housing Society; I will take the children with me to the park and return them to you afterwards.’

“Persuaded by his words, my brother handed all three children over to Zeeshan. Shortly afterwards, both my brother and I became deeply concerned.”

The complainant added that when she tried to contact the suspect on his mobile phone, it was switched off.

She further said that she and her brother then searched for the children to the best of their ability but were unable to find them.