Amin Ansari, father of rape and murder victim Zainab, said on Tuesday that the accused tricked his daughter by saying that he is taking her to meet her parents.

The seven-year-old?s father was speaking in Geo News programme ?Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kaay Saath?.

He said that his daughter was targeted when the culprit knew the parents weren?t around.

Amin Ansari said that he had advised his children against going with strangers.

While thanking the JIT, agencies and forensic lab?s joint efforts, Ansari advised the parents to take care of their children in order to save them from any untoward incident.

Children need to be made aware of such people, he said.

Later, Regional Police Officer Sheikhupura Zulfikar Hameed also spoke in the show, saying that the information regarding the suspect was received through local intelligence.

?We investigated the suspect and awaited the DNA report,? said the RPO Sheikhupura, adding that the CCTV footage was crucial in the case.

He further said that there are eight cases in which the DNA matches.

RPO Sheikhupura said that the accused carried out the assaults by himself and did not have accomplices.

Earlier in the day, police claimed to have arrested the prime suspect behind the murder, Imran, who was also a neighbour of the deceased.

In the evening, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif 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 has been caught. His name is Mohammad Imran. He is a 24-year-old resident of Kasur...he is a serial killer," Shehbaz told a press conference.

"He [Imran] admitted to all his crimes in a polygraph test that was conducted after his DNA matched the samples," said the chief minister.

"Government officials constantly struggled," he said. "These combined efforts bore fruit and got the killer arrested."

"I am most thankful to DG Forensic Lab who profiled 1,150 DNAs to find the killer,? said the CM Punjab.

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

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

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

"Zainab's father wants the man to be publicly hanged but the court will decide the future course of this case," he said.

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.

The accused's DNA also matches the samples taken from seven other minor girls who were abused and murdered earlier in the area.

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.