KARACHI: A stolen USB drive handed to a Karachi shopkeeper by a minor girl has led police to arrest a man accused of sexually assaulting nearly 100 children over nine years, officials said Friday.
The suspect, identified as Shabbir Ahmed, was detained on Thursday after the shopkeeper discovered the device contained hundreds of videos of child sexual abuse. The girl, one of his alleged victims, had stolen the USB from him and taken it to the shop in the Qayyumabad area to copy a movie.
“When the shopkeeper checked the USB, he found nearly 200 clips of abuse, including the girl herself and a vendor he recognized,” Defense police station chief Ghulam Nabi Afridi told Arab News. “He immediately raised the alarm.”
Police arrested Ahmed shortly after the discovery, seizing further evidence including a mobile phone, and a diary containing details of victims. More than 400 clips have so far been recovered, showing abuse of nearly 100 girls, some repeatedly, Afridi said.
“The accused, who moved from Abbottabad in 2011, started abusing children in 2016 and continued this crime for nine years,” he added. “He lured girls from low-income families by offering small amounts of money and committed the abuse inside a shop with the shutter down.”
