Three relatives of deceased Woking 10-year-old, Sara Sharif, have been arrested at Gatwick Airport after returning from Pakistan.

Police confirmed the breakthrough on Wednesday evening, with national media reporting the relatives are the schoolgirl's father Urfan Sharif, 41, stepmother Beinash Batool, 29, and uncle Faisal Malik, 28.

Surrey Police's statement in full:

"Our investigation into the death of 10-year-old Sara Sharif was launched following the discovery of her body at her home address in Hammond Road, Woking, on August 10.

"This evening, around 7.45pm, three people were arrested in connection with this investigation at Gatwick Airport.

"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.

"Sara’s mother has been informed of this latest update and is being supported by specialist officers. Our thoughts remain with her and those affected by Sara’s death at this very difficult time.

"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."

It comes just two days after the five children who travelled with Sara Sharif's father from the UK to Pakistan the day before her body was discovered were taken by Pakistan police in a raid on their grandfather's house, the grandfather told the BBC.

Muhammad Sharif, Sara's grandfather, said he had been hiding the children aged between one and 13 in his home in the north-eastern city of Jhelum. But he would not tell the BBC how long they had been there.

Sara's father, Urfan Sharif and his partner, Beinash Batool, and the five children fled the UK on August 9, a day before the 10-year-old was found dead at their home in Woking on August 10.

The post-mortem revealed Sara sustained "multiple and extensive injuries". Her injuries were so bad her mother and grandmother could not recognise her.

The BBC were told by neighbours that Pakistan police arrived to raid the grandfather's property just before 4.30pm local time (11.30am GMT) on Monday.

According to eyewitnesses, dozens of officers surrounded the house, stopped traffic and also prevented anyone from filming on their phones.

All five children were then taken away by police said Mr Sharif.

Sara's grandfather claimed officers broke CCTV cameras as well as the gates of his home. The BBC said he had previously repeatedly denied being in touch with his son or knowing where the family was.

Pakistan police have confirmed that they have the children. Sara's father, stepmother and uncle Faisal Malik were not with them.

A neighbour told the BBC "Police officers including female officers raided the house. They broke the CCTV at the entrance and entered it. While inside, more officers arrived outside and stopped the traffic. They stopped everyone from filming on their mobile phones."

On Friday, Muhammad Sharif told the BBC he had sent a message to his son Urfan Sharif to surrender himself to police "two to three days ago".

The Sharif family have repeatedly made accusations that the police have been harassing their entire family by illegally detaining some and raiding their homes. Sara's stepmother, Beinash Batool said many of their family had gone into hiding because of the harassment. The police have denied this.