Another suspect has been arrested by police on Thursday in the Zainab rape and murder case. Police said the suspected lived near the spot from where the body of the minor was found earlier this month.
Zainab’s body was found at a short distance from the arrested suspect’s house, identified as Ranjha, police sources said.
Police arrested Ranjha on the basis of information extracted from another arrested suspect, namely Umar, who was earlier arrested from the Bhatta Chowk area of Lahore. The sources said that Umar’s polygraph test had been taken by the police and its report would be received soon.
Even after the passage of two weeks, police have so far failed to make any important arrests in the murder case and no significant development had been reported in the case. Around 15 people arrested in connection with the case have not provided the police with any information that could lead to a breakthrough in the case, the sources said, adding that search operations were being carried out in different areas on a daily basis. They also informed that DNA tests of 449 persons have also been conducted by the police.
The sources further said that police had decided to further increase the radius of the investigation after failing to make headway in the case. Earlier on January 16, a Supreme Court (SC) bench had shown displeasure over the lax attitude adopted by the Punjab government and the police in relation to the Zainab murder case. During the proceedings, Punjab additional inspector general (AIG) and advocate general (AG) informed the court about the progress made in connection with the case.
On the occasion, the chief justice had said that no signs of progress could be seen in connection with the case. “What progress has been made in the case so far?” the chief justice had enquired. To this, the AIG said that investigations had been fast-tracked, while the AG informed the honourable bench that around 1,100 suspects have been questioned in relation to the case.
During the hearing, the chief justice had also said that the failure to solve this case would be equivalent to the failure of the government and the police. Every case is handled in the same manner which allows culprits to win their freedom due to incomplete investigations, he had added.
The minor Zainab was kidnapped on January 4 from near her aunt’s house in Kasur. Five days later, her body was discovered from a garbage pile. The post-mortem report revealed that Zainab had been raped before being murdered.
Police officials believed that the suspect involved in Zainab’s murder had also assaulted nine other girls between the age of five to 10 years. He killed seven out of the nine girls, they added.
Earlier, District Police Officer Zahid Ali Marwat had said that the abuse and killing of minors were widespread in other districts of Punjab as well, but the incidents in Kasur overshadowed all other districts.