Sara Sharif’s father, stepmother and uncle have been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the death of the 10-year-old girl.

In a statement, Surrey Police detective superintendent Mark Chapman said: “Two men, aged 41 years and 28 years, and a woman, aged 29 years, were arrested on suspicion of murder after disembarking a flight from Dubai.

“They are currently in custody and will be interviewed in due course.”

The three arrived at Gatwick airport just after 7.30pm on an Emirates flight from Pakistan, via Dubai.

The girl’s father Urfan Sharif, stepmother Beinash Batool and uncle Faisal Malik are believed to have travelled to Pakistan on 9 August and were being searched for by police in the country.

Sara was found dead at her home in Woking, Surrey, on 10 August after a man identifying himself as her father called 999 from Pakistan.

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Mr Chapman said Sara’s mother had been informed of the arrests.

“Our thoughts remain with her and those affected by Sara’s death at this very difficult time,” he added.

“This has been an extremely fast-moving, challenging and complex enquiry and we remain absolutely committed to conducting a thorough investigation into Sara’s death.

“We will not be commenting any further at this point and will provide further updates as and when we are able to.”

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In a video shared last week with Sky News, Ms Batool described Sara’s death as an “incident”.

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