KASUR: Chief Minister Usman Buzdar on Friday announced Rs5 million head money in the murder case of three minor children in Chunian.

He pledged that the Punjab government would utilise all possible resources to track down the perpetrator.

Speaking to media persons in Chunian where he came to condole the death of the three children with their families, he said police had added section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act to the cases that would be tried by special court.

The chief minister also announced establishment of a child protection centre in Kasur to prevent any such incident in future. The Punjab government, he said, would protect children at all costs. He said the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) had already started collecting DNA profiles of the suspects.

He said required funds would be allocated to achieve the ends of investigation and such cases would be dealt with an iron hand.

Answering a question, the chief minister said the police officials including the DPO, the SP investigation, the DSP and the SHO had been chargesheeted over negligence and would be penalised after due inquiry.

According to a handout, Mr Buzdar met the bereaved families in the mosque. He extended sympathies to them and assured them of early arrest of the criminals. He said Dolphin Police had been deputed in Chunian and the strength of the Special Branch staff was also being increased.

The chief minister was given a briefing on the progress made in the incident at a special meeting held at Chhanga Manga. He directed the officials to recover the lost child, Imran.

Earlier on his arrival from Saudia Arabia around 2am, he held a meeting at the Lahore airport where he called out the Punjab police. He expressed his displeasure over the horrific murder of the children and said this tragic incident could have been avoided, if the recovery of the children was done in a scientific manner. Special Prosecutor Abdul Rauf Wattoo would assist the JIT, he said and added that he would personally monitor the progress of the case. Hafiz Asghar Ali will also assist the JIT. Both of them played a key role in probing the Zainab murder case.

Punjab ministers Basharat Raja, Hashim Dogar, Sardar Asif Nakai, Ansar Majeed Khan and senior officers attended the meeting.

Schools to remain closed

The public and private schools in Chunian will remain closed on Saturday (today) in the aftermath of the tragedy.

CEO Education Naheed Wasif said the district administration was likely to extend the holidays for a few days. She said mobs visited schools on Friday and asked the security guards to let the children go with them for a protest against the incident. Later, she said, the situation was tackled with the intervention of the local administration. The private schools remained closed on Friday.

Deputy Commissioner Azhar Hayat, however, said the decision to close the schools could be counter-productive and would be cancelled.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2019