LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a press conference todayover the issue of the Zainab rape and murder case in Lahore.
He said the murderer of Zainab Ansari has been arrested by the collectiveeffort of law enforcement agencies.
Accompanied by Zainab Ansari’s father, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharifheld a press conference and formally announced the arrest of the suspectedchild kiler.
“We have arrested the killer of Zainab Ansari due to untiring efforts oflaw enforcement agencies,” Shehbaz Sharif said.
He said that DNA test of Ali Imran Ali has been matched with samplescollected from all victims.
The chief minister said that polygraph test also verified the findings ofDNA that Imran Ali was the killer of Zainab Ansari.
“We are also thankful of Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) for his support forthe arrest of the killer.”
The chief minister appealed to Chief Justice of Lahore High Court to trythe suspect in an anti-terrorism court (ATC) without any delay. “Iunderstand the pain and agony of Zainab’s parents, but we all must actaccording to the law of the land..”
“If it was in my hand, I would have hanged this beast publicly to make anexample out of it.”
According to police sources, the suspect, Imran Ali, had sexually assaultedand murdered at least eight minor girls, including Zainab Ansari, within aradius of one kilometer in two and a half years.
The suspected serial killer was arrested from Pakpattan after a briefencounter with police.
The DNA test confirmed that he was behind all cases of sexual assaultinvolving minor girls. The suspect, according to the police, alsoconfessed to have raped and killed Zainab Ansari.
Police said that his DNA matched with the samples collected from thevictims.
The suspected suspect, who is said to be 23 years old, was familiar withZainab’s family and would also frequent the minor girl’s house. He is aresident of Kot Road, where Zainab also lived in.
Kasur police spokesperson Sajid Ali said the suspect was arrested overnightand has confessed to the crime.
Meanwhile, the father of the deceased child said he was unaware of thearrest of Imran.
According to him, Zainab’s uncle suspected that Imran was the culprit. Headded that Imran was initially arrested soon after the case was reportedbut he was set free. The family is unaware of his re-arrest.