The accused Imran, said to be 24-years-old, was familiar with Zainab?s family and would also frequent the minor girl's house-Geo News

KARACHI: Mohammad Imran, who was arrested for the rape and murder of minor Zainab, will be presented in a special anti-terrorism court (ATC) today in Lahore.

ATC judge Sheikh Sajjad will conduct hearing in the case.

Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday evening confirmed that the arrested accused, Imran, is the murderer of seven-year-old Zainab and referred to him as a ?serial killer?.

Zainab's murderer caught, is a 'serial killer', confirms CM Shehbaz

According to sources, the accused has confessed to the heinous crime

He said that the case will be prosecuted in an anti-terrorism court (ATC), and assured that all legal formalities will be completed.

Shehbaz also requested the chief justice of the Lahore High Court to ensure that the hearing of the case to is heard day and night, without any delay.

Zainab's rape, murder case

Zainab was kidnapped from near her aunt?s house on January 4 in Kasur. Her body was recovered from a garbage heap on January 9. The post-mortem of the minor revealed that she had been raped before being murdered.

The accused Imran, said to be 24-years-old, was familiar with Zainab?s family and would also frequent the minor girl's house, police sources told Geo News.

Imran is also said to be a relative of the deceased and a resident of Kot Road where the young Zainab also resided. However, Zainab's father has refuted claims that the suspect is related to them.

Imran was picked up initially by the police but was let go without testing his DNA after the family intervened and identified him as someone familiar and trusted.

After being let go Imran had fled from Kasur and for a short while was residing in Pakpattan.

On the orders of the District Police Officer (DPO), certain individuals were rounded-up again including Imran and their DNA tests were conducted.

The suspect was picked up five days earlier and interrogated which further confirmed that Imran was, in fact, the perpetrator of the crime.

According to police sources, Imran has also confessed to his crime.

Additionally, sources claim that Imran had shaved his beard after the incident which helped him evade arrest till now as the CCTV footage showed a man sporting a beard.

DNA report

Punjab government spokesperson Malik Ahmed Khan had earlier confirmed that the suspect Imran had been arrested from near Pakpattan.

?He (Imran) was among the 600 people whose DNA tests had been conducted,? the spokesperson added.

The spokesperson further said that circumstantial evidence pointed towards Imran?s involvement in the case. "The suspect is currently under interrogation."

A JIT was formed by the Punjab government following the brutal rape and murder of Zainab.

Multan Regional Police Officer DIG Muhammad Idrees was appointed the head of the JIT after Zainab?s father had objected to the previous JIT head.

Appearing before the Supreme Court?s Lahore Registry on Sunday, DIG Idrees submitted a progress report and informed the court that Zainab's was the eighth incident of child abuse in Kasur since June 2015.

The court then gave the JIT 72 hours to present substantial progress in the probe.

'Jacket buttons helped in catching suspect'

According to a BBC report, a jacket owned by Imran was among the evidence which helped the police narrow down on the suspect.

The CCTV video which went viral showed the suspect wearing a zip-up jacket having two giant buttons at either side of the jacket top. However, the CCTV did not clearly show the jacket's colour.

The police nonetheless carried out a raid at the suspect's house where a black jacket with a similar design was found. Imran was eventually arrested as an accused after his DNA matched with the sample collected from the site where Zainab's body was dumped.