LAHORE - Investigation into the Zainab murder case has uncovered a new chapter of extrajudicial killings in the Punjab province, where police kill hundreds of suspects every year.

DNA tests revealed that Zainab was killed by serial killer Imran Ali who had raped and murdered at least seven Kasur girls, including five-year-old Iman Fatima, since 2015.

But police killed a young man, Mudasir, in Iman’s case early last year. Mudasir was shot dead by police just days after he was arrested in connection with rape and murder case of five-year-old Iman Fatima. The police claimed the suspect had tried to flee when he was killed.

On the other hand, DNA tests suggested that Mudasir was not the killer of Iman Fatima. The traces of the DNA found on the bodies of all seven victims matched those of Imran Ali arrested by police for raping and murdering Zainab early this month.

The high-powered joint investigation team constituted to probe Zainab’s murder discovered DNA traces matching those found in seven other similar cases in the same city.

Top police officers last week confirmed arrest of the serial killer. He was identified as 24-year-old Imran Ali, a neighbour of seven-year-old Zainab. Imran is being interrogated by a joint investigation team in connection with at least 11 cases of child rape and murder reported in the Kasur district since 2015.

The parents of Mudasir are running from pillar to post to get justice. The family had to relocate for safety as locals boycotted them, thanks to the police for killing a “wrong suspect” in a horrific crime.

A member of the victim family told this reporter that the police shot and killed Mudasir just to cool down public anger because the latest child rape and murder case had sparked protests in the town.

“Mudasir was produced before the DPO (district police officer) at his office shortly before the shooting in which he was killed. He had confessed to the crime only to get rid of brutal police torture. Mudasir was innocent. The DNA report has confirmed this now,” Mudasir’s relative said with sobbing eyes.

According to insiders, a district police officer and a station house officer were among several policemen who had decided the fate of Mudasir, last year. They say the lower-subordinates in police can’t even think of executing criminals in fake encounters. In fact, they said, fake police encounters are carried out with the consent and on the orders of the top police officers, including district and regional police officers.

Police sources revealed that the joint investigation team consisting of police investigators and intelligence operatives had decided to reopen the case of Iman Fatima. Also, at least seven policemen were summoned by the JIT in connection with the killing of Mudasir last week. However, no senior police officer has been asked to appear before the JIT so far.

Zainab’s rape and murder case triggered countrywide protests and brought international condemnations this month. Thousands of people took to streets to protest the latest killing in Kasur soon after the police found the body on a heap of garbage. Two protesters were killed and several others wounded as police opened fire on the mob to disperse the protesters.

Earlier, Punjab government spokesman Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, in an interview with The Nation, condemned the police shooting that left two protesters dead and seven others wounded.

When asked about the killings of a few alleged child murderers in police custody, the official said they were investigating a specific case in which the police “incorrectly” shot and killed a suspected child rapist. “A judicial inquiry is under way (with regard to the staged police shooting),” he admitted.

The practice of extrajudicial killings, also dubbed here as police encounters, is quite common in this province. At least 269 alleged criminals were killed in 239 “police encounters” last year across the Punjab province. In 2016, the police had killed 340 alleged criminals in 291 encounters.

More than 450 suspects were shot dead by police during at least 359 shootouts across the province in 2015. Police sources describe 2015 as the year of “police encounters” in the history of Punjab Police. The figures were almost double if compared to 2014 when at least 259 suspects were shot and killed in 267 armed encounters.

The police had killed 360 alleged criminals in a total of 397 encounters reported across the province in 2012. However, in 2011, at least 127 alleged criminals were killed in shootouts with the law enforcing agency.

Although police had killed hundreds of criminals during the last five years yet there was no let up in incidents of heinous crimes reported this year in Punjab. For instance, the provincial police registered at least 405,895 cases of crime in 2017 against 408,283 cases reported in 2016.

According to Human Rights Watch, many suspects are killed in police custody. The group said it was concerned that many, “if not most”, of the 2,108 people reported by the media to have been killed in encounters in 2015 died in circumstances that were “faked and did not occur in situations in which lives were at risk.”

The report said: “In the vast majority of these cases, no police officer was injured or killed, raising questions as to whether there was in fact an armed exchange in which there was an imminent threat to the lives of police or others.” Senior officers admitted the practice to researchers from HRW, who also found that Pakistan’s ill-equipped and poorly trained police regularly resort to torture to extract confessions.

In a bleak account of the problems with policing in Pakistan, HRW also underscored the widespread use of torture to extract confessions. Techniques include beatings, leg crushing, sexual abuse and a rack-like stretching body technique.

It also said police stations refuse to investigate complaints, particularly when lodged by vulnerable members of society or against influential figures, including relatives of senior police officers. It cited numerous other examples of police demanding bribes, or making false arrests in order to extort cash from the victim.