FAISALABAD, May 13: Police claimed arresting a serial killer involved in rape-cum-murder cases of eight women, mostly prostitutes, here on Monday.

A police spokesman said a Nishatabad police team was investigating a murder case of an unknown woman. During a raid on the local General Bus Stand, police arrested Ashraf who confessed to have killed eight women after raping them in different parts of the district during the last four years.

The serial-killer told police that he was a labourer by profession and had divorced his wife for her bad character some five years ago.

During investigation, he gave out that he had first murdered a prostitute four years ago in Chak 27-JB. Later, he murdered two more white slaves of Lahore after raping them at the same village in separate incidents.

Although police had arrested him in one of the murder cases, he was released by court after three years for lack of evidence.

Ashraf said he again started passing nights with call girls and murdered three of them in Chak 49 in separate incidents. Belonging to Lahore, the ill-fated harlots were ‘trapped’ from Data Darbar about a couple of years ago, he claimed.

Another unidentified woman was murdered after a rape in Chak 50-JB on April 29, 2002. Later, her body was thrown in the fields, he said.

The accused confessed another murder of a prostitute on Jan 26, 2002, in the limits of the Nishatabad police.

The police spokesman said during interrogation, he identified the picture of a woman whom he had murdered about two weeks ago.

A team of senior police officials is interrogating the accused.

THRASHED: Villagers on Monday thrashed a Fesco checking team at Chak 450-GB, Tandlianwala.