Sara Sharif’s family flew back to the UK in business class on £4,000 tickets paid for by their relatives, the Telegraph can disclose.

Urfan Sharif was arrested for the murder of his 10-year-old daughter alongside his partner Beinash Batool and brother Faisal Malik as they arrived at Gatwick airport following a month-long manhunt in Pakistan.

The three adults flew on economy from Sialkot in eastern Pakistan on Wednesday morning and then on a connecting business class flight from Dubai to London. The flights had been pre-booked on Saturday by a relative, according to a travel agent contacted by this newspaper.

Burhan Ali from Bin Adam Travels said at 12:00pm on Saturday a man in his mid-30s named Safeer Malik came into the office to buy tickets.

He added: “He said he wanted three tickets for his brothers and sister-in-law. He offered [to] pay in sterling but I said we only deal in Pakistani rupees so after half an hour he came with 1,500,000 RS (£4,000) and I booked the tickets.”

The three adults were not formally arrested by Pakistan police but had voluntarily cooperated with Britain’s High Commission to fly back to the UK, according to sources.

Surrey Police are holding them in custody where they are being questioned over the death of Sara.

A post-mortem examination showed the schoolgirl had suffered “multiple and extensive injuries” over a “sustained and extended period of time”.

A cause of death is still to be established. It is understood that not one single “catastrophic injury” is responsible.

Last week, in their first public statement since the manhunt was launched, Sharif and Batool insisted Sara’s death was an “incident” and that they were willing to cooperate with UK authorities.

Five children who accompanied the adults when they flew to Pakistan have remained in the country in a government childcare facility following a court ruling on Tuesday.

Det Supt Mark Chapman, of Surrey Police, said at the time of the arrest: “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.”