A nine-year-old girl who went missing two days earlier from Orangi Town was recovered from the residence of an illegal liquor seller, police confirmed on Tuesday.

The girl went missing on Sunday evening, with the area residents submitting an application regarding the same at the Pakistan Bazaar police station. Following the complaint, a missing persons was issued that was circulated by the police for the recovery of the missing child.

The parents of the girl, along with area residents, also mounted a search for the missing girl on Monday.

The girl’s brother told Aaj Digital that it was decided among the search party to conduct house-to-house search to find the missing girl.

One of the residents, who lived right across the house of the missing girl, refused to agree to the search voluntarily. They added that the man’s family was away and he was living alone in the two-storey house at that time. They claim that the accused is an alocholic and involved in bootlegging moonshine.

After the search party - comprising of residents - didn’t find the girl inside homes in the neighbourhood, they returned to the house located opposite the missing girl’s residence.

The house owner’s consistent refusal to allow the search party to enter resulted in an altercation. The party made its way to the upper storey of the house where they found the girl inside a cage, one member of the search party told Aaj Digital.

The residents also recovered bottles containing moonshine - illegally manufactured liquor - from the house where the girl was caged.

They claimed that the little girl was kept gagged and told her rescuers that the kidnapper had a knife to her throat. She told them that her abductor spoke to someone on the phone telling them to ‘take the girl’.

At the same time, a police party led by SSP West Dr Farrukh Raza also arrived at the scene and assured the recovery of the girl, who was then handed over to the family, the police said in a statement.

Police have taken the accused into custody and filed a first information report (FIR) - which is available with Aaj Digital - under Section 364-A (kidnapping a child under the age of fourteen). The Anti-Violence Crime Cell (AVCC) will investigate the case. The police said that a preliminary medical test did not show any sign of sexual abuse but added that the AVCC would carry out further investigation.

SSP West Dr Farrukh Raza told Aaj Digital that the accused has also been charged in connection with the illegal liquor.

He dispelled reports that the area residents had surrounded the police station over the non-registration of the police report. They wanted the complaint to be in the name of the child, which resulted in the confusion. After it was clarified that the child’s parents would be the complainant, the issue was resolved.