KASUR-The man, who protested on roads against murder of Zainab (7), sympathised with the girl's parents and attended funeral of their daughter turned out to be the real culprit in the case.
The culprit identified as Imran alias Mani had beard, wore cap and recited na'at to camouflage his evil character under an apparently innocent look of na'at khwan.
People of his locality never knew it was he who had been involved in rape and murder of at least eight minor girls including Zainab.
During police interrogation, the beast confessed to have strangled Zainab and seven other girls including Ayesha, Iman Fatima, Laiba, Nur Fatima, Sana and Fauzia after rape.
One of his preys, Kainat, whom he raped after injecting her intoxicating drugs, is battling for life at Children Hospital, Lahore.
According to police sources, Imran, resided 200-metre away from Zainab's house, was amongst the hundreds of suspects who had been taken into custody by police for DNA examination. He was taken into custody on January 14 but was released unexamined after intervention of Zainab's parents and locals who declared him as innocent, telling the police he couldn't be murderer of the girl. After his release, the accused fled to Pakpattan where he shaved his beard but the police continued tracking him. He was rearrested on January 20; his DNA was examined and he was let off. On January 22, police received a tip-off from Special Branch and rearrested the accused. His DNA matched the samples collected from the crime scene. The accused was also undergone a polygraph test and the result came positive. He was shifted to Punjab Forensic Science Agency, Lahore for further investigation.
Zainab's case was not first of its kind in Kasur district but the police remained inactive despite media highlights and repeated complaints by relatives of the girls' who had gone missing and later were found dead. The authorities, however, sprang into action after Kasur turned violent following recovery of the dead body of Zainab from a pile of trash on January 9. It is because of the people who, after getting acquainted with murder of Zainab, took to roads, broke into deputy commissioner's office, set ablaze the outhouse of a local lawmaker and pelted policemen with stones for their negligence. Two persons lost life in firing by police during the violent protests at which the issue gained attention of the whole country and the foreign media as well. The situation prodded the authorities into action and they were forced to do something practically rather consoling the girl's family and making hollow claims. After untiring efforts of two weeks, the law-enforcement agencies succeeded in arresting the accused who turned out to be neighbour of Zainab. The situation in Road Kot locality where the accused lived turned tense after the news regarding arrest of Zainab's murderer was broke in media. Scores of people gathered outside the house of Imran and attempted to set ablaze it but were prevented by police deployed to thwart any untoward incident.
Locals while talking to The Nation said that the culprit should be hanged publicly, resolving that they would not attend his funeral. Yaseen Lahori, neighbour of Imran, said that anyone who commits such a horrible crime should be dealt with sternly. He should be made an example for others, he added. Hazran Bibi said that people like Imran should be hanged publicly to serve as a deterrent for future offenders. Ashraf Gujjar and Asghar Ansari said Imran has committed an unforgivable crime, adding people should not attend his funeral after his execution. Jamaat Ahle Sunnat district amir Mufti Hamid Ali Qadri and Mufti Akhtar Ali Qadri condemned the incident, saying no religious scholar in the district would lead funeral prayers of Imran. Local PML-N leader Khadim Hussain Kasuri and Pakistan Falah Party district president Baba Zafrullah Raza expressed their solidarity with Zainab's parents. They also vowed to go all-out for bringing the culprit to his logical end.
Anjuman Tajran central leaders including Akram Mughal, Ch Ali Sadiq, Asif and Ch Mehmood Elahi were of the view that a comprehensive case should be prepared against the culprit so that he could not avoid stern punishment. They also stressed effective steps to stop child abuse incidents in future.

Zainab's father regrets he wasn’t let speak to media

KASUR:-Zainab's father Amin Ansari said that his mike was turned off during the press conference with Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and he was not allowed to speak to the media persons. Talking to Waqt News, he said that he wished to have a meeting with Imran so that he could get satisfaction that he was the murderer of his daughter. He demanded action against the station house officers of A and B-Division police for their negligence in the case. He also termed the allegations baseless levelled against former Kasur DPO Zulfiqar Ahmed that he had demanded Rs10,000 as “reward” after handing over dead body of Zainab to the family. He said that murderer of his daughter should be punished as per the Islamic laws. Amin Ansari also thanked Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar, Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa, Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif and law-enforcement agencies for their efforts in the arrest of the culprit.