LAHORE: Pakistani authorities in Punjab have arrested the prime suspect in the sexual assault and murder of seven-year-old Zainab Ansari.
Malik Ahmed Khan, a spokesperson for the Punjab government, told Arab News that the suspect was arrested in the central Punjab district of Pakpattan.
“We have found some initial evidence and we have reason to believe that he is the one we were looking for,” Khan said.
He added that it was a difficult job to track down the suspect because he had moved around a lot and disguised his appearance.
“He modified his look,” Khan told Arab News. “Sometimes he wore glasses, other times he shaved his beard.”
Zainab went missing in her hometown of Kasur on January 4. Her body was found in a rubbish dump on January 9.
Khan said further details about the suspect would be available once forensic tests were completed; adding that other suspects had been released after DNA tests cleared them of any involvement in the child’s murder.
The suspect has been named in various media outlets as Imran Ali, and he had reportedly been arrested earlier in the investigation, but was released after Zainab’s family said he was a “trusted” acquaintance.
“His appearance is similar to that of the person last seen with Zainab in CCTV footage,” a senior police officer in Lahore told Arab News.
Zainab’s murder caused a huge public outcry in Pakistan. She was reportedly the 12th child to have been murdered in the last year in, or around, Kasur.
The Punjab government formed a joint investigation team that interviewed around 1,100 people, many of whom had their DNA tested.
Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif also offered a reward of 10 million rupees for anyone who provided information about Zainab’s killer.
Sharif was expected to formally announce Ali’s arrest on Tuesday.
Pakistan police arrest key suspect in Zainab murder case
Pakistan police arrest key suspect in Zainab murder case
Pakistanis fleeing Iran describe strikes shaking ground under their feet
- Nearly 1,000 students, businessmen and pilgrims have fled Iran since the war started out of a total 35,000 Pakistanis in the country
QUETTA: Pakistanis fleeing Iran described explosions and missile strikes across Tehran shaking the ground under their feet and engulfing buildings in fire and smoke in a city emptied of many of its residents. The conflict has widened sharply, with a US submarine sinking an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka on Wednesday and NATO air defenses destroying an Iranian missile fired toward Turkiye.
Governments have been scrambling to evacuate stranded citizens, with most of the region’s airspace closed due to the risk of missiles hitting passenger planes.
“I was in the classroom when a powerful explosion rocked our university building,” Hareem Zahra, 23, a student at the Tehran University of Engineering, told Reuters after crossing Pakistan’s land border with Iran.
“We saw thick smoke coming from many buildings on fire,” she said, adding Tehran was under attack until the moment she left.
TEHRAN LOOKED DESERTED
Nearly 1,000 students, businessmen and pilgrims have fled Iran since the war started out of a total 35,000 Pakistanis in the country, Mudassir Tipu, Pakistan’s ambassador to Tehran, said.
“There are now serious challenges. As you know there is no Internet in most parts of Iran,” he said. Iran has retaliated with a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting Israel and Washington’s allies in the Gulf, including Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, following US and Israeli air strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.
Tehran has looked deserted since the conflict began, said Nadir Abbas, 25, a student of Persian literature at a university in the Iranian capital.
“I saw a drone hit a basketball court where six girl players lost their lives.”
Reuters could not verify his account.
DESTRUCTION EVERYWHERE
Islamabad is walking a diplomatic tightrope as it attempts to maintain warming ties with Washington while expressing solidarity with Iran.
Pakistan is home to the second-largest Shiite population in the world after Iran and being drawn into the conflict could lead to instability at home as well as complications evacuating its citizens.
“The first attack happened right next to my hospital,” said Sakhi Aun Mohammad, a student at Tehran University of Medical Sciences. After he reached the border, an Iranian friend called to check if he was safe, saying: “’Thank God, you have gone to Pakistan, all of you are safe, but your hostel has been attacked’.” A Pakistani diplomat who is still in Tehran said attacks took place every four or five hours, adding one missile struck a building next to his office. “At times you will feel as if something exploded right at your feet,” he said. “The last time I got out was at night. Buildings had collapsed, some others were on fire. There is destruction everywhere.”
He added: “It is almost like a ghost town.”
